The idea to incorporate smell into the cinema actually originated way before films ever had sound. An early form of Smell-O-Vision made its debut in 1916 at the Family Theater in Forest City, Pennsylvania. It was there the audience got to enjoy the scent of rose oil while watching the annual Rose Bowl game.

Less than a decade later, something new captured America’s attention: movies with sound. The idea of smell-o-vision was quickly lost in the frenzy. But Hans Laube, the declared founder of Smell-O-Vision was hard at work developing a way to let audiences smell their favorite actors and actresses. In 1939, he debuted a system that released scents from the individuals’ cinema seats at the New York World Fair.

“First they moved (1895)! Then they talked (1927)! Now they smell (1960)!”
An ad slogan for the 1960 film "The Scent Of Mystery"
Source: Brownlee, J. http://www.wired.com/table_of_malcontents/2006/12/a_brief_history/, 2006

Two decades passed before there were any more developments. In 1960, producers called upon Laube to help them with their film, “The Scent of Mystery.” The clues to solve the mystery were given through scent. The buzz for the film was impressive; however the end result was less than satisfactory. The smells were delayed and were pronounced only in certain areas of the theater.  

In 1965, during an interview on BBC a professor claimed to have invented smell-o-vision. He told all viewers to smell the fresh coffee he was brewing through their standard TV sets. Sad to say, it was all an April Fool’s joke.

The film “Odorama” is what most people associate with the word “Smell-O-Vision.” In 1980, John Waters produced a film accompanied by a set of scratch-and-sniff cards to coincide with the movie. It became quite popular and the movie was re-aired by MTV in 1992.