I can remember reading in Peter Golenbock’s book “Bums” (about the Brooklyn Dodgers) concerning people he interviewed that one of the chief things that they remembered of the funny old ballpark (Ebbets Field in Brooklyn) was the distinctive, rich smell of baseball about the place back in the 1930s and 1940s.
Does anyone here remember that sort of thing about the older ballparks (Wrigley, Old Comiskey Park, Tiger Stadium, Yankee Stadium before renovations in 1974, Fenway, Crosley, Forbes, etc)? Or about the older NHL rinks like Chicago Stadium, Boston Garden, Detroit Olympia?
What I remember about old Comiskey Park was the smell of stale beer and cigar/cigarette smoke. It was no wonder, people always said Comiskey was the largest tavern in Chicago.