Printed from smellbook.com/smells/newspaper. This printout keeps the entry for Newspaper itself: its description, reference card, Connections, questions, evidence, related smells, record details, states, names and citation. It leaves out your own notes, the map, the lists of paths, routes, stories and fragrance directions, and the lists headed “Also linked to” (other entries that share its place or material) and “Linked from”; they are on the page online. The entries this one links to are still printed under Connections and Related smells.
Links SmellBook records for this entry: where you meet it, related smells and comparisons. EDITORIAL links are chosen by SmellBook editors. Nothing here is a ranking.
QUESTIONS ABOUT NEWSPAPER
Newspaper, question by question
What does newspaper smell like? EDITORIAL
Newspaper smells dry, papery and inky, with a slightly sharp, oily ink note over a soft, grey paper base. Freshly printed pages smell stronger and fresher; older papers turn dusty and flat. The smell is subtle and stays close to the pages and fingertips. It can be confused with cardboard, which is browner and woodier.
It is met at the breakfast table, at a newsstand or corner shop, and when unfolding a fresh newspaper on a train or bench. Pages used to wrap fragile items or line drawers carry a faded version.
No VERIFIED evidence is recorded for this entry yet. Nothing on this page should be read as a scientific explanation. Sources have been searched for and none suitable has been found so far.
How do people describe it, and what is it compared with? EDITORIAL
Newspaper differs from Old Book by newer paper, printing context and much less aging.
Answers marked EDITORIAL are written by SmellBook editors to describe the experience and add no scientific fact. Answers marked VERIFIED point to claims on published sources, checked against each source's own summary where one was available (each claim's page says how); what each claim supports is in its own text and scope.
01WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYSNONE YET
SmellBook adds citations claim by claim when reliable sources are available. Everything else on this page is editorial description, labelled separately.
Research status: searched, nothing suitable found yet (8 recorded searches, latest on 2026-10-24). An 1878 account of how a daily newspaper is produced and a printing-trade journal volume describe presses and paper, but say nothing about how newspapers smell. How the research agenda works ↗
Each step is a relationship SmellBook editors recorded in the knowledge graph, named as it is published there. Paths are not ranked or personalised, and they do not mean the smells smell alike.
CULTURAL: This entry's associations depend on context, language, memory or culture; its description and smell words are editorial. It says nothing about research or historical evidence; evidence for this entry is shown separately: NONE YET.
ATLAS POSITION077 / 200
MILESTONEIconic 100
PRIMARY CATEGORYObjects & Materials
PUBLIC TYPEExperience
PROFILE STATUScomplete
Names and identity for Newspaper
How this entry is identified and named, for citing it or matching it with other records.
@misc{smellbook_newspaper_r3,
author = {{SmellBook}},
title = {Newspaper},
year = {2026},
note = {SmellBook Public Atlas, revision 3, 2026-10-06, smellbook:smell:newspaper},
url = {https://smellbook.com/smells/newspaper}
}
TY - ENCYC
ID - smellbook-newspaper-r3
TI - Newspaper
AU - SmellBook
T2 - SmellBook Public Atlas
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/06
ET - revision 3
UR - https://smellbook.com/smells/newspaper
N1 - SB-0077; smellbook:smell:newspaper; resolver https://smellbook.com/id/smell/newspaper
ER -
The citation names revision 3 of 2026-10-06, so a reader can tell exactly which version was cited. Citing records what was read; it does not grant a licence.
PROFILE NOTE
Newspaper differs from Old Book by newer paper, printing context and much less aging.