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Little Trees Are Way Older Than You Think
“I got the trees on my mirror so my car won’t smell,” rapped Michael “Mike D” Diamond on the 1980s Beastie Boys cut “Slow Ride.” I don’t know why this line stuck out to me as a teenager, but as the 808 kick drums rattled the speakers in my 1994 Mazda Miata, I decided I needed to shell out a couple of bucks for a three pack of Black Ice Little Trees to hang on my rearview. If it was cool enough for the Beastie Boys, it was cool enough for me.
Mike D got the basic concept but might not have been aware of the science behind the ubiquitous Little Tree. It’s born from the work of Julius Sämann, a German–Jewish chemist who fled the Nazis and had studied the aromatic oils in Canada’s pine forests. In 1952, some 30 years a milkman in Watertown, New York, complained to Sämann about the spilt-milk smell in his truck. Two years later, Sämann filed a patent for blotter paper infused with “odor-destroying, air-perfuming substances.” In the patent drawing, the air freshener took the shape of a buxom pin-up, but he ultimately landed on the familiar tree design. With the post-war boom in car ownership and Americans’ love of puffing Pall Malls (more than half of the U.S. adult population smoked in the mid-1950s), Sämann’s pines took off. The company is still family-owned today, and has expanded upon the original Royal Pine sent with 25 more fragrances, like Black Ice, New Car Scent, and Vanillaroma.
While that sounds like a lot smells to permeate your automobile, it’s only a fraction of the fragrances that have been available over the years, as Little Trees is constantly updating its lineup. According to the company’s website, “To continue releasing new and exciting fragrances year after year, we unfortunately have to say goodbye to some that may not be as popular as they once were.” For lovers of less popular trees, like Heat, Dew Kiss, and Bouquet, this statement is less than encouraging. Kevin Fielding, a reader from Utah, writes that the discontinuation of Bouquet is “one of the greatest travesties ever cast upon car culture.” When he heard the bad news after contacting Little Trees, he bought one of the final remaining boxes of Bouquet Little Trees available on the internet.
It’s a good thing Fielding stocked up when he did. Automobilia collectors get into bidding wars over rare and discontinued Little Trees, and the going rate today for a single Bouquet freshener on eBay is about $40. Like with many aspects of the automotive landscape these days, fans of the diminutive pines show off their collections on online spaces like Reddit, TikTok, and YouTube. You might question the point of stashing vintage air fresheners, as it’d be reasonable to assume that fragrance would dissipate over time. But someone in the subreddit r/LittleTrees claims that new-old-stock fresheners from the 1980s still retain some smell when released from their cellophane wrappers.
Also unmentioned in that Beastie Boys song: the cellophane wrapper the Little Trees come in is not supposed to be immediately tossed in the garbage. According to the patent, the air freshener is supposed to be removed incrementally from the cellophane because “If the extent of withdrawal of the porous device from the pouch were left entirely to the judgment of the user, he might waste much of the volatile substance by excessive withdrawal of the member from the pouch, and the resulting strong odor might be displeasing to him.” No wonder my Miata reeked of Black Ice.
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This story first appeared in the March/April 2025 issue of Hagerty Drivers Club magazine. Join the club to receive our award-winning magazine and enjoy insider access to automotive events, discounts, roadside assistance, and more.
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I was born and raised in Watertown NY. Always wondered about the origins. Have lived in Maryland for many years now. Whenever I see one in a car, I often tell people I’m with that they came from my hometown. Probably the only thing made there that people anywhere would recognize. (If they are actually still made there)
Honestly, I thought they were from the 40s, so they’re actually YOUNGER than I thought they were.
Surprised not to see a Repo Man reference as the little trees had a costarring role, and I hear “You find one in every car” whenever I encounter them on the street (or in the scrapyard).
Also, no mention of the odd corporate tie-in novelties, like Hoppe’s #7 solvent, or the one I purchased at the Spam Museum, shaped and scented like their popular product.
That was the first think I thought of when I seen these little trees LOL…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Mxs6A1byIo
This time of year when driving from La Tuque to Lac Saint Jean, Quebec, just open your window to get that pine smell. All natural, strong but not overwhelming.
As a Canadian I can attest to the rare and wonderful experience of actually walking through one of the Little Trees virgin forests. It an experience I recommend to anyone to actually walk through one of these groves on a spring day. The fragrance isn’t as strong as one might assume as it only reveals itself when you cut into the bark but it’s there never the less. What is really impressive is the symmetry of a thousand trees all perfectly alike growing in rows. And the colours…not just in fall.
What ever happened to Apple blossom scent?
It was the orange colored tree, kind of smelled like gain laundry detergent.
I used to buy them in multiples, it permanently lingered into the interior.
I loved that smell.
Makes me think of the cult movie Repo Man. The weird maintenance guy hands Emilio Esteves a Tree he’s taken out of a new arrival and say “There one in every car. You’ll see.”