Aroma Discs

Donald Spector received a patent for these in 1985. They looked like small music discs. But instead of producing sound, they released an aromatic vapor when put in the 'player'.



I don't see what advantage an aroma disc would have over an incense candle (except, perhaps, for the lack of an open flame). Which, I assume, is why these are no longer around and incense candles are all over the place.

But Spector was successful enough to have his product featured on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson:

     Posted By: Alex - Sun Sep 06, 2020
     Category: Inventions | Patents | 1980s | Perfume and Cologne and Other Scents





Comments
It would be good for SmellOVision - Imagine watching the Titanic and the smelling the salty sea air. Or watching 300 and smelling blood and the smell of rotting corpses
Posted by covideogamer on 09/06/20 at 07:36 AM
To me it was something to ride the tail of the CD market that was expanding at the time. I had one new, and I remember seeing a ton at goodwill. The scent was weak and lasted barely a day and a half. I ended up wasting the rest of my odd job funds on the far cheaper and much cooler Magic Mushrooms.
Posted by Pete on 09/06/20 at 09:32 AM
That weakness of scent was the downfall of the product. I remember opening the hardware part to inspect the workings - it was very much like a vinyl record player where a stationary needle was set against a revolving disk. I assume that the disk was an offshoot of scratch 'n' sniff technology that manufacturers would send in the mail with adverts. Those scratch cards that came in the mail helped by alerting me as to what was trash immediately.

The porn industry missed an opportunity - imagine a sound recording paired with the odors of sex. Or maybe not...
Posted by KDP on 09/06/20 at 10:26 PM
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