As a person with congenital anosmia, I’ve always been fascinated when people describe cities as having unique and distinct scents. As such, I found this article online absolutely fascinating: The City of Big Odors
The article, though brief, traces the ever-changing “urban bouquet” of Chicago going back to its formerly most potent smell, the Union Stock Yards. As for an actual description that’s helpful for someone who has lived here for most of her life but never able to actually smell her surroundings, I find that the article embraces the “smell by comparison” method a bit too much (i.e. this smells like what this other thing smells like) which is useless for someone who can’t smell but suitable for someone who can.
And so, for all you creative writers out there, I have yet another challenge! I want to know what Chicago smells like during any or all of the seasons, and I’d also like to know what particular locations smell like as well. I’m sure the lakefront, as the above mentioned article attests, smells differently than the suburbs, or the north shore, or south side or west side, etc. etc. The article’s subtitle claims that the smell of a city is an “integral part of the city’s personality”; I want to know what I’ve been missing. I’ve always characterized this city as a rude gossipy aunt that never approves of anything and I’ve always assumed that that personality is a bi-product of the freakishly cold and windy winters we seem to have. Would being able to smell the city change my perception? Who knows?!
So, feel free to leave your smell entries below in the comments or email them to me and I’ll add them to my personal dictionary of smells.
- Jul 9, 02:13 PM
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1 · Janet · Jul 11, 05:35 PM
Hmmm…it’s been a while, but the last time I spent a week or two in Chicago I was there for a conference in the middle of winter. It was cold, wet, snowy, and very gray. I walked several blocks from the train station to the conference in the hotel in the heart of downtown. The smell in winter reminded me of one of those old black and white movies where there was a man in a black fedora and trench coat slogging through the cold night rain. He is hardened from life, and smells of sweat, rain, ink, and cigarettes. If he gets close, you can smell the dampness of his woolen London Fog coat and the musk of sweat, having just spent the whole night working at a fast-paced newspaper with impossible deadlines, only to leave work in the wee hours of the night to walk home to his small dank Chicago apartment. His jaw is hard and set, and he just wants to be left alone. He isn’t intentially rude, however; just tired, cold, and worn out.
2 · Marty · Oct 29, 01:26 PM
Chicago smells like sulfer near the train station. Walking anywhere downtown, I expect to catch the aromas of the great food that Chicago is famous for, but usually all I get is a ripe and putrid bouquet of SEWER gas. Yup, my most prominent memories of Chicago smells are sulfer and poo-poo. Not very romantic, but I call ‘em like I smell ‘em/
3 · Heather · Oct 29, 01:36 PM
Ha! I’ve always suspected that, but never had it confirmed in such detail. Marty, did you live in Chicago or just visit?