The ancient Egyptians worked hard to hide body odor. They put perfume in their baths and applied great quantities of it to their underarms. They tried using many odd items like incense and porridge as deodorant The ancient Greeks were also afraid that they might give off an odor Like the Egyptians, they bathed constantly and wore a lot of perfume. The Romans took this obsession a step further: They soaked their clothes in perfume, and even put it on their horses and household pets. The first trademarked deodorant, a paste called Mum, didn't appear until 1888. In the mid-1950s, the ballpoint pen inspired the first roll-on deodorant Today deodorants are a multi-billion dollar industry and are as common as toothpaste in most homes.