Little Trees

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 a specially formulated 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 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. 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). It was formerly known as Magic Tree in the United Kingdom until the "Little Tree" name was adopted in 2011. The company is known for pursuing lawsuits to protect its trademark.

Trademark

Car-Freshner fiercely defends its trademark of the tree-shaped air freshener design, and has filed several lawsuits against makers of lookalike products and against companies that use their products in other commercial media.

*In 2002, Car-Freshner sued Rite Way Wholesale and Distributors, Inc. of New York for importing and distributing a "vanilla-scented tree shaped air fresheners with a patriotic design". As a result of the judgement, the defendants were required to surrender their entire inventory to the plaintiffs for destruction, and were required to pay an unspecified penalty.

*In 2006, Car-Freshner sued Dale Detwiler (owner of the Austin, Texas-based Corndog Cards & Novelties) after Detwiler company produced holiday greeting cards that bore a glow-in-the-dark image of a scratch-and-sniff tree-shaped air freshener.

*In 2006, Car-Freshner won a suit against UK-based Tetrosyl Ltd for producing a tree-shaped air freshener that "included snow, flashing lights, the shape of a tub at the bottom".

*In 2009, Car-Freshner sued Getty Images for unauthorized use of its tree-shaped air fresheners in a series of stock photographs.

*Julius Sämann Ltd. filed a complaint with the Norwegian Industrial Property Office to the homeless and previously incarcerated, for producing tree-shaped air fresheners made of cedar wood. In September 2016, unable to cope with the growing legal costs, Sun Cedar filed for bankruptcy.

*In 2018, Car-Freshner sued Balenciaga for making $275 key chains that copy the appearance of the Little Trees air fresheners.

In popular culture

Little Trees have been featured in multiple aspects of popular culture.

Art

*The British artist Jack Williams, the son of a car salesman, created ‘‘Forest’’, a 2009 installation using 350 Royal Pine air fresheners, hung in a square configuration from the ceiling via fishing wire.

Films

*Little Trees have been featured in such movies as: '' Repo Man'' (1984), ''The Fisher King'' (1991), '' Grumpy Old Men'' (1993), ''Seven'' (1995),. ''Ocean's Eleven'' (2001), ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' (2003), and ''Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (film)'' (2022) and Euphoria (American TV series).

Music

*Mike D mentions Little Trees in the Beastie Boys song, "Slow Ride" ("I got the trees in my mirror/So my car won't smell").

Raggare

*In Norway, Sweden and Finland, the Wunder-Baum brand is sometimes associated with the raggare subculture.

Legality

In the United States, many states have regulations concerning obstructed view, objects hanging from the rear-view mirror, obstructed windshield, or similar legislation. Citations and/or custodial arrests for violations of such statutes are not unknown.

References

{{Reflist, 30em, refs=
{{cite web, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170506095337/http://www.catmag.co.uk/a-little-change-for-magic-tree, archive-date=2017-05-06, date=2011-08-25, title=A little change for Magic Tree, publisher=CAT, url=http://www.catmag.co.uk/a-little-change-for-magic-tree, quote=One of the most recognisable brands in the UK aftermarket, agic Tree's UK distributor hasannounced that from this month the Magic Tree brand will change its name to Little Trees., access-date=2018-02-03{{cite web, title=The Magic Tree air freshener: where it came from, and why it's so successful, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160728171115/http://www.arnoldclark.com/newsroom/510-the-magic-tree-air-freshener-where-it-came-from-and-why-it-s-so-successful, url=https://www.arnoldclark.com/newsroom/510-the-magic-tree-air-freshener-where-it-came-from-and-why-it-s-so-successful, archive-date=2016-07-28, quote=The Magic Tree car air freshener – now more commonly known as the Little Trees air freshener – has become a motoring icon., publisher=ArnoldClark.com, access-date=2018-02-03, date=2014-02-25, url-status=dead

External links

Car-Freshner Corporation
@ www.littletrees.com
Little Trees Europe
@ www.little-trees.eu

Automotive accessories
American inventions