Bump, I guess...
DUCO, sure. Ambroid of course. SIG until they added skunk essence to deter the "recreational sniffers." Smelled sort of like a poorly mucked out elephant compound in a zoo.
Testor's fuel proof dope - most smelled alike, but the red, and particularly the black could be id'd two rooms away...
Superfuel, in the can and in the exhaust..
Nitrobenzene? The only 'shoe polish scent' fuel we found was Francisco. (Brooklyn, NY, late '50's?) Learned something about scent-attracted bugs. Fill your fuel bulb fast and put the cap back on quick, unless you like brushing a small horde of bees out of your way. I don't think the bees would appreciate it, but never put it to a test. Waved them away with a rag, then worked quick.
No one mentioned SIG 5% and 10% nitro, 20% or 25% castor Champion. Mid-70's? Downwind of a rich stunt run, the remainder of unburned nitro essence was sweet and clear.
More recently, I discovered that some diesel 'kerosenes' did not have the remembered tramp steamer bilge stench, particularly in the exhaust stuff. Auto #2 gas station diesel is very clean unless you go bonkers on load and compression. Ether smell gone by combustion; remaining vapors reminded me of a local private Chinese family's "steam laundry" in my neighborhood. More a clean steam smell than rough sludge from an over-age Mack chain-drive truck's bowels. Almost too nice to be from diesel, but at least the ether is still there in the raw fuel...
Of course, back in the days of bolted-down wooden desks and real slate blackboards, a whiff of Murphy's Oil Soap brings back the first days of school in the Fall. But that's off topic...