7 Smells That Defined Summer Camp in the 1980s

Summer meant all kinds of fun activities in the 1980s: riding bikes with your friends, swimming at the local pool, and heading off to summer camp. Summer camp was such a popular thing to do at the time that a long list of movies were made on the subject that decade across genres, from Friday the 13th (1980) to Ernest Goes to Camp (1987).

But no '80s movie could capture the smells that take you back to those days at camp, at a time when you didn't have to worry about leaving your smartphone behind because they didn't even exist. Do you remember these great '80s summer smells?

1. Sunscreen
2. Bug Spray
3. Campfire Smoke
4. Burnt Marshmallows
5. Lip Balm
6. Musty Cabins
7. Craft Supplies

Sunscreen

The '80s took a slightly different view of sunscreen compared to today, with tanning lotions that barely protected you. Kids going off to summer camp today may be packing waterproof sunscreen with SPF 50 for extra protection, but camp kids in the '80s preferred tanning lotions that smelled like shea butter or herbs and lavender with only a whiff of sun protection. Hawaiian Tropic's tanning formulas, for example, including lotions with SPF 4 or SPF 10.

Bug Spray

Your parents also probably sent you to camp with a big bottle of bug spray, and you can probably still smell it all these years later. The spray bottles included some scents that kept the bugs away—along with anyone around you as well. Full of DEET and other chemicals not great for the environment, these products had a distinct smell. But the good news is everyone smelled like bug spray at camp for all your outdoor activities, so you weren't the only one. 

Campfire Smoke

Camp meant staying outside late by the fire to play games, talk, or even hear scary stories from your favorite camp counselor. But it also smelled like you set half the forest on fire when you would wake up the next day to find your clothes smelling of the campfire the night before. At the time, you probably didn't care because you were at camp. Today, though, you may want to find a way to get back to that woodsy campfire for just one more summer night with friends.

Burnt Marshmallows

Of course, you can't have a campfire without roasting some marshmallows, and after plenty of summers at camp, you probably perfected your marshmallow technique. Perhaps you liked to get them just a little warm and gooey before eating them right off the skewer. The best campers, however, were the ones who would just light their marshmallows on fire to get them molten hot and then stuff the smelly, burnt remains of the marshmallow between graham crackers and chocolate for the perfect s'more.

Lip Balm

You could still smell good—sort of—while hiking on trails or running around outside during camp hours. You probably remember the distinct scent of lip balm to keep your lips moist while you were out in the sun. The best-smelling stuff of the ‘80s was Lip Smackers and other scented lip balms that came in a variety of scents like tropical punch, watermelon, or vanilla ice cream.

Musty Cabins

It was always inevitable that you would have a smelly cabin. It may have been the damp smell from the showers, the humidity making everything musty and smelly, or just the lack of air flow with a bunch of kids in a cabin full of bunk beds for a week. Whatever it was, campers knew that familiar smell as soon as they walked in the door to drop off their bags at the start of each camp session.

Craft Supplies

One of the best activities at camp was arts and crafts, and that was a particularly smelly endeavor in the 1980s. Writing letters home meant scented markers that smelled like blueberry and grape. Scratch and sniff stickers were all the rage back in the '80s, and that included adding some to camp collages and art projects that would add smell like strawberry or peppermint when you scratched them.

Art time also meant plenty of creating with paints that would have that distinct paint-by-numbers smell. And if you were lucky enough to have a camp counselor who could use a lighter, you may remember the unique burning plastic smell that came when you sealed up and finished a lanyard made of woven plastic laces.

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