Charles E. Burchfield, Journals, August 21, 1935

While waiting for a street car on Swan St. yesterday, several automobiles went by – it was almost noon: the hot sun was pouring down. From the passing cars came an odor that at first mystified me - it belonged to the Past, but for a few moments, I could not place it. All at once it came to me – the smell of hot iron fillings mingled with human sweat - the place: the third floor of the Mullins Co, Salem. – in the Summer of 1911- It all came back to me so vividly that I forgot where I was- the ceaseless roar of Tonneaus being pounded, mingled with the harsh rasping of files over the solder and steel, the hot August sun pouring thru the semi-opaque sky-lights overhead – sweat running off our chins in streams, dropping on the filings – Across a span of 24 years comes this odor, to re-create for me an almost forgotten experience.