Little Trees are disposable air fresheners shaped like a stylized evergreen tree, marketed for use in motor vehicles, and most commonly seen hanging from rear-view mirrors. They are made of an absorbent material produced in a variety of colors and scents.
Little Trees were invented in 1952 in Watertown, New York, by Julius Sämann, a German-Jewish chemist and businessman[1] who had fled the Nazis. He had studied Alpine tree aromas in the forests of Canada and was interested in the biological mechanisms used to transport and disseminate them.[2] Little Trees air fresheners are manufactured in the United States by the Car-Freshner Corporation at factories (such as Royal Pine) in Watertown, New York and DeWitt, Iowa. Several companies in Europe produce Little Trees under license from Julius Sämann Ltd. using the names Wunder-Baum (in Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Hungary and Sweden) and Arbre Magique (in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Portugal, and Spain).[3] It was formerly known as Magic Tree in the United Kingdom until the "Little Tree" name was adopted in 2011.[4][5] The company is known for pursuing lawsuits to protect its trademark.
- ^ "Little Trees Europe". little-trees.co.uk. Archived from the original (Shockwave flash) on 2006-05-01. Retrieved 2006-05-13.
- ^ Greenbaum, Hilary; Rubinstein, Dana (March 2, 2012). "Who Made Those Little Trees Air Fresheners?". The New York Times Magazine.
- ^ O'Connor, Deb (August 2005). "Little Trees: An American icon born and raised in Watertown" (PDF). Absolutely Business. pp. 18–23. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 9, 2011. Retrieved 29 Sep 2011.
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