Have you ever received a scented postcard? I know the concept’s out there, but I haven’t run across one that has been deliberately impregnated with scent myself. Even if you have, I bet most people would be surprised to know that there have been postcards sent that smell like a comet (yup, the kind that fly around the Solar System and show up in the sky with a bright tail when they get close to the sun, like Comet Hale-Bopp), a fact I learned recently while reading Joshua Howgego’s The Meteorite Hunters. I admit, I hadn’t expected to learn anything relevant to Postcrossing in a book about meteorites, but somehow postcards follow me everywhere.
Some readers might remember the Rosetta/Philae mission which tried to land on the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014. After some technical difficulties, the Philae lander did make touchdown on the comet, providing us with a chance to learn more than ever before about what makes up a comet—or at least, what Chyumov-Gerasimenko was made of, since other comets are likely to have slightly different compositions.
It’s the info from Philae that allowed a researcher from the Open University (one of my own alma maters!), Dr Colin Snodgrass, to commission a company called The Aroma Company to make a scent that could be applied to promotional postcards. The mix they made needed to evoke a few differente elements, including ammonia, sulphur dioxide, hydrogen cyanide and hydrogen sulphide. Some parts of that aren’t so bad (hydrogen cyanide smells like almonds, and some people find it a fairly pleasant scent despite it being a poison), but the combination sounds preeeetty gross.
The author of the book I was reading actually received one of the postcards and mentioned his own impressions: he wasn’t very keen, and found the smell really stuck in his nose, but his partner actually found the scent kind of pleasant and earthy, maybe like a mineral soak for a bath, and one of the creators noted finding the scent kind of like that of a lily. No accounting for taste! You can read more about the process of creating the scent (and another writer’s reaction to it) in this New Scientist article.
Unpleasant as it sounds, I think I’d love to receive a postcard that smells like a comet. It’s amazing to realise the things we can discover about distant balls of dirty ice, and the things those discoveries can tell us about the formation of our own planet, solar system, and even universe. That’s a lot to put on a postcard…
57 comments so far
Wow, comets always fascinate me. So, to receive card with scent of the comet...... it's a dream!!! 😃
I would love to rece8ve this, as gross as it sounds. This reminds me a bit of the perfume NASA designed to smell like space that makes people gag!
Amazing, I would love it too. It reminds me of an exhibition in Budapest about the scent of the planets.
A postcard that smells like a comet? I'm all in and would be thrilled if I ever got something like this.
What an unexpected blog post!! I’d love to re dive it but I’d be dubious as to the validity of it. 😁
Wow, how beautiful! Please send it!!
Hi. I want a postcard ☺️👍 thank you very much 💐
100%
Wow, that is absolutely amazing! I would love to receive a postcard like that
So interesting!
How absolutely fascinating and thanks for linking in the articles. I too would love to receive this scented postcard. It would be a most unusual item to the scented stamps I've been fortunate to receive.
It’s my dream!! 💭
Very cool
@sealed4ever: I'm not sure what part of the idea you're questioning, but I'm happy to discuss the resources I referenced in putting it together so you can have a read and judge for yourself.
In general terms, the inspiration for the post was Joseph Howgego's The Meteorite Hunters, which is a non-fiction title about meteorites, and I also read the linked New Scientist article: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2094836-i-smelled-comet-67ps-deadly-pong-and-lived-to-tell-the-tale/
New Scientist is a science magazine aimed at the general public, presenting factual information. It has a generally good reputation, and wouldn't make up a story that was easy to prove false or report something totally unscientific as if it were valid. Howgego is a New Scientist contributor as well, giving him plausible access to the postcards in question.
There's some other information floating around online about the postcards from similarly reputable sources aimed at the general public, such as the BBC's Science Focus magazine: https://www.sciencefocus.com/space/what-does-a-comet-smell-like
I think it's fairly clear that the postcards really existed and that a scent was blended for them based on the known makeup of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko -- there's no reason for New Scientist and the BBC to have made it up, and both took it fairly seriously as an idea.
What's a bit more speculative is obviously what the comet would "really" smell like, but the manufactured aroma is based on the constituents of the comet, which are known and the results of which are publicly available. The analyses were published in Science, which is one of the foremost scientific journals out there and aimed at scientists. You'd be looking for the 31st July 2015 issue, which had a number of different papers about the Rosetta/Philae mission results. So the validity of the components of the scent can be checked up.
You can read the remarks from Snodgrass about the scent in the New Scientist article which interviewed him, where he notes that most of the comet is composed of molecules that don't have a scent, and that they picked the smelliest. It's obviously a bit of a stunt, but it's one based on facts, as best as I can discover.
Whether any of the postcards are still floating around, I don't know. If they are... well, I hope they put me on the list to get one! But I wouldn't expect it (or expect it to still have the scent) given that it's been a few years.
Oh... interesting!
Yes I would love this!!!
I remember being fascinated by the Hale-Bopp comet back in 1996 but never dreamed it could have a smell. How fun! I would love to receive a postcard that smells like a comet! 😃
I would be "over the moon" (see what I did there 😉) if I ever receive a card like this ❤️ so cool and fascinating! 🤩
Yes, I would love to receive a postcard like this! Very interesting!💫🌟
That’s a lot like what the thermal pools at Yellowstone smell like. As a candle maker, I love scents, and my mother, daughters and I have all added perfume or fragrance/essential oils to our cards & postcards. I used to haveca book that had pages that smelled like Victorian roses. It was lovely!
I'm very curious and would like to have one.
Huh, who knew comets had smells!
Wow, I never thought about what a comet would smell like, very interesting question.
So many interesting ideas come to be widely known with information sharing. I enjoy learning something new everyday. Matching scented stickers, washi tape, postcards and stamps may become popular.
I am a sky lover and go out every late night to commune with the moon, planets, stars and any space riders. It feels amazing. If such a scented postcard were to land in my letterbox I would truly be over the moon that night!
Thank you for the interesting article. I've learned so many unusual, unique, inspiring tidbits through these articles since joining PostCrossing three years ago. The dinner conversation is always entertaining in my home!
I have a pretty picky nose, but something that unique would be too good to pass up... I think I'd want to receive it, but not delivered with other mail! It would make everything else smell with it.
I received a postcard that I think someone had sprayed with their perfume, whether the sender or someone along the way, but it made my entire mail delivery smell for days and it was miserable for me - though others who have a less sensitive nose might have been less bothered, or perhaps even enjoyed the smell of the perfume.
I'm both fascinated about astronomy and writing so, a mix of those would be simply PERFECT ❣️😍
Our Postal Service «Belpochta» has released postcards and stamps with the scent of wild strawberries 🍓
I think this postcard with a comet scent must be really interesting. I can't wait to receive it. I think I can use some comet-themed stamps and send it from our local space post office.
Absolutely love this. More scented postcards!
No, I wouldn’t like to receive something like this. I would find it frustrating because I can’t smell many things.
Sounds gross! But I would love one! Maybe that sill inspire me to spray my old perfume on my cards from now on! Haha
I have a pretty good sense of smell and there are many smells I don't like, but after reading your post, I was left thinking about what that meteorite smell must be like and how. I wish I could smell that promotional postcard. ;)
paradonym, Germany
I once had a user requesting the weirdest card... I had a fur card from Bizarr Verlag laying around. I think it was orange or green fur, pretty long. And the last perfume tester I had smelled like tomato soup getting cold over time, like when tomato soup already stood outside for some hours. Both together filled the wish for a pretty weird card.
My favorite received postcard is one of Pope Leo, sent from Vatican City, blessed by a priest. A postcard with a scent of a ☄️ would be my second favorite. Hands down!
Getting a postcard that smells like a comet would definitely be a "spaced out" experience!
When I saw this post I thought it referred to Comet brand household cleaner. I thought, why would anyone make a postcard that smells like scrubbing powder? Silly me.
Then again, the chemical smell might be a good approximation for the real thing. I suppose I will never have the chance to find out.
I would love to get this!
@an-foxy Last week I received one of the strawberry scented postcards. I'm glad I got that and not comet flavoured. This is a delicious scent.
Now I have another card to dream of! Thank you for the fascinating article.
I don't think that I like "smelly" card. So my answer is NO....
Thank you for this article! The book sounds interesting, so I just ordered it.
Yes, I would like to have such a postcard in my collection. If it still smells, I would most likely seal it in s smell-tight bag... :-)
sounds disgusting but very interesting - so I'd LOVE to receive one
I sometimes spray perfume on postcards... I hope they smell better than meteorites!
I haven't seen a real comet but it would be so amazing to see. And love the scented postcards idea too
A Postcrosser from Germany requested to spray the postcard with your fav perfume, so I did. When he registered my postcard, he said his mailman asked him if he had a new girlfriend, haha 😄 I have recieved quilted postcards, coffee bean bag postcards, glow in the dark postcards, but have never recieved a scented one. What's a comet smell like ? Where can we purchase one ? I gotta have one now💥
I look for shooting stars every evening on my walks. When I see one, I will make a wish to get a scratch-n-sniff comet postcard. I imagine one smelling like an old ice tray coming out of the freezer! That would make my day! LOL
This is actually so funny if you take it from our perspective: We'd called our dog Comet, as in the German "Komm mit"/come along. Since the vet's not German, it turned into Comet ... now pray tell, the scent of a rescued dog on a postcard?!
Love weird postcards like this! There's soooo much that can be done with a card when it comes to novelty things that aren't even done anymore ... like hold to light postcards or postcards with holes in them! I would love to see more of this.
I recently saw the movie, "H is for Hawk". One scene in that movie made mention that old pages in library books have the distinct scent of vanilla. I wouldn't mind receiving a scented postcard...not the scent of weed (skunk-like) though.. I would love getting a scented vanilla, spice or floral postcard. Getting a stellar-scented postcard would also be COOL!
Interestingly, the vanilla smell of old books happens for this reason: "That comforting vanilla scent of old library books is a fascinating result of chemical decay. As the pages age, the compounds that make up the paper begin to break down, releasing a sweet and nostalgic fragrance into the air." (Source: AI)
#theskyaboveme is one of my frequent hashtags used on my SM-posting! So, a postcard related to space & sky will always be welcome in my mailbox!
Nice article, thanks for sharing it!
xoxo
:) :D
I love earthy smells! I think getting a comet postcard would make my day :)
I would absolutely love to receive one. I love space and stars and would be amazed to receive a postcard smelling of a comet.
I just bought an estate postcard lot locally and it had a little bag of salt from Salt Lake City attached to it, a Cotton Boll (seeds intacts) and one with Nickle-copper ore in a see-through bubble. I've also received a card with a little bubble of sand and shells in it. I'm surprised it made it through customs. Seeds imbedded in cards are a common one I've seen as well.
What a cool blog post. Loved to read it and it would be such a special card to receive a card that is supposed to smell like a comet.
and that cyanid smells like alonds is not that unexpected as bitter almonds (also fruit pits like from apricots) contain amygdalin what can be split down to cyanid. And did you know in former times when real marzipan was rare there was a product named "persipan" that is made of apricot or peach pits... so enough random facts.
When I still studied I often went to our local libary there and they had always amazing free postcards there. For christmas not one smelling like a comet but like christmas cookies. I loved to send that card. It is so sad most people belive free/ad cards are always ugly. They are often really creative and cool.
How curious! Thanks for sharing and in that spirit I will recommend you check out a personal essay by author John Green about his experience seeing Halley’s Comet.
Here is the book: John Green’s 2021 book is The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet.
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