smell-o-vision

alternative smellevision · alternative Smell-o-vision

1. humorousuncountablebroadcastingA (supposed) technology consisting of cinematography with the addition of olfaction, often portrayed as far-fetched or futuristic.

   SMELLEVISION REPLACES TELEVISION! Carl Stalling sez, "It will never work!"

   1944 October 28, Michael Sasanoff; Bob Clampett, director, “The Old Grey Hare”, in Merrie Melodies, Burbank, Calif.: Warner Bros. Pictures; Vitaphone Corporation, →OCLC

   5 more examples

   "Magnificent!" shouted our supercritical photographer as he leveled his eye at this picture [of a ham]. […] Perhaps "smell-o-vision" is needed to enjoy fully this Easter treat. Or, better still, taste SUNNYFIELD HAM yourself—either smoked or cooked ready-to-eat.

   1942 March 30, “We Disagree with the Photographer! [advertisement]”, in Henry R[obinson] Luce, editor, Life, volume 12, number 13, Chicago, Ill.; New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 74, column 1

   New model cars come out each year; the split-T and the soccer kick are new football offensive weapons. Black-and-white, then color TV and pretty soon smell-o-vision—that's progress.

   1966 March, Joseph A. Brunton, Jr., “A Few Words from the Chief: ‘Is the Good Turn Obsolete?’”, in Robert Hood, editor, Boys’ Life: The Magazine for All Boys, volume LVI, number 3, New Brunswick, N.J.: Boy Scouts of America, →OCLC, page 46, column 3

   Other techno-mancers forecast fax in the home, "smellevision" (television sets equipped to emit appropriate odors for each scene), and luminescent paints that store sunlight during the day and glow at night. These new products would surely brighten the future.

   1991, Michael Brian Schiffer, “A Portable Depression”, in The Portable Radio in American Life, Tucson, Ariz.; London: University of Arizona Press, →ISBN, page 116

   The film includes some marvelous 3-D special effects as well as flashing lights, a bubblemaker, smell-o-vision, and a surprise from the skies as well as a live actor and a cannon.

   1994, Corey Sandler, Econoguide 1995: Walt Disney World, Epcot and Universal Studios Florida, Chicago, Ill.: Contemporary Books, →ISBN, page 140

   Meanwhile, in far-off laboratories of the Military-Infotainment Complex (to advance upon Stuart Moulthrop's phrase) at Disney or—yea, verily, even unto—Apple, some scientists work on synchronous smell-o-vision with real-time simulated fragrance degradation shifting from fresh ink to old mold; […]

   1995, Michael Joyce, “‘So Much Time, so Little to Do’: Empowering Silence and the Electric Book”, in Of Two Minds: Hypertext Pedagogy and Poetics (Studies in Literature and Science), Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Press, →ISBN, page 97

   Synonyms: smellies

alternative Smell-o-vision · alternative smellovision · alternative Smellovision · alternative smellevision · alternative smellavision · alternative smell-a-vision

1. historicalbroadcastingA system that choreographed the release of odors into a movie theater during the projection of a film.First known use 1959

   Each Smell-O-Vision customer sat in a movie seat equipped with a system to pipe in smells directly to the nose. […] Theater-owners knew AromaRama and Smell-O-Vision wouldn't be around long. Curious customers came and went without getting too excited.

   1990, Frank W. Hoffmann, William G. Bailey, “AromaRama and Smell-O-Vision”, in Arts and Entertainment Fads (Encyclopedia of Fads; I), Binghamton, N.Y.; London: The Haworth Press, →ISBN, pages 19–20

   5 more examples

   […] John Livadary […] is en route to Rome to commence the score recording for "The Scent of Mystery,"^([sic]) new Mike Todd Enterprises pic production. The recording will be made via the new 35 mm. magnetic tape. The picture also introduces a new process, known as "Smell-O-Vision."

   1959 September 28, “Two Everest Teams to Cut in Europe”, in Paul Ackerman [et al.], editor, The Billboard: The Amusement Industry’s Leading Newsweekly, volume 71, number 39, Cincinnati, Oh.: The Billboard Publishing Company, →OCLC, pages 2 and 14, column 3

   Yes, Smell-O-Vision is here. Film makers have toyed with ways to add smell to sight and sound in movies for years. Now Michael Todd Jr. thinks he has the answer. He's chosen the name purposely, he says, "to get the jump on those who will call it that anyway." The new process will perfume the film, "Scent of Mystery," to open at a special theater in Chicago. A magnetic track on the film will synchronize action to an "odor machine." Individual odor outlets fixed into each seat will guarantee that the whole audience knows the picture smells.

   1959 November, “… Have You Heard …?”, in Howard Allaway, editor, Popular Science, volume 175, number 5, New York, N.Y.: Popular Science Publishing Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 20

   Danny Stiles, WNJR, Newark, N.J., and WCTC, New Brunswick, N.J., recently ran a contest asking listeners to identify the mystery voice on Eddie Fisher's new record "The Chase." First prize was a bottle of Mike Todd Jr.'s perfume, "Scent of Mystery," also the title of his new Smellevision movie. Answer, of course, was Elizabeth Taylor.

   1960 January 25, June Bundy, “Vox Jox”, in Paul Ackerman [et al.], editor, The Billboard: The Amusement Industry’s Leading Newsweekly, volume 72, number 4, Cincinnati, Oh.: The Billboard Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 23, column 3

   [B]y the early '50s we had seen so much that it took Smell-O-Vision to shock us into attendance, and more recently audiences have continued to dwindle while movies went from topless to bottomless to games that any number can play. What in the world will they try next?

   1971 November 5, Brad Darrach, “Parting Shots: Now at Your Local Theater: A New Kind of Shoot-’em-up”, in Ralph Graves, editor, Life, volume 71, number 19, Chicago, Ill.; New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 82, column 1

   In 1960, the movie A Scent of Mystery^([sic]) used the Smell-o-Vision system, which solved the distribution problem by including smell tubes at each seat. Although the smells were integrated into the mystery story line, the system was not a great commercial success.

   2002, Stephen Wilson, “Biology: Microbiology, Animals and Plants, Ecology, and Medicine and the Body”, in Information Arts: Intersections of Art, Science, and Technology (Leonardo), Cambridge, Mass.; London: MIT Press, →ISBN, page 60

1. rareAlternative letter-case form of Smell-O-Vision.

   1 more example

   At the end of the 1950s, filmmakers experimented with Aromarama and Smell-o-vision. […] Smell-o-vision followed soon after. This time the smells came from vents beneath the cinema seats. It was used for a 1959 film entitled A Scent of Mystery. At best failing to work and at worst making members of the audience feel ill, the experiment faltered and failed.

   2022, Susan Stewart, “The Twentieth Century: Cinema, Haute Couture and Celebrity Scents”, in Common and Uncommon Scents: A Social History of Perfume, Stroud, Gloucestershire: Amberley Publishing, →ISBN

1. rareuncountableAlternative letter-case form of smell-o-vision.

   So, until Netscape comes up with Smell-o-vision, reading about and looking at food on the Web will have to stave off those hunger pains.

   1999, Nora Paul, Margot Williams, “Food Resources on the Web”, in Paula J. Hane, editor, Great Scouts! Cyberguides for Subject Searching on the Web, Medford, N.J.: CyberAge Books, Information Today, →ISBN, part I (Life & Times), page 25