little trees were invented in 1952 by julius sämann in a rented garage in watertown, new york. julius samann was a jew from germany who left germany and immigrated to canada at the start of world war ii to escape the nazis. in canada, sämann studied the smell of alpine trees for five years. sämann invented little trees after a milk driver complained to him about the smell of spilled milk. julius samann filed a patent for little trees in 1954. little trees was the first car freshener.