You all know about Elf on the Shelf, right? Personally, I donโt like the little bastard guy. Hear me out.
First, some background.
The Elf on the Shelf concept seems to be rooted in Scandinavian folklore which tells of household elves who protected peoplesโ homes and ensured prosperity, provided they were bribed with a bowl of warm porridge on Christmas Eve. No porridge and the family faced a year of misfortune. Basically, like a Norse Sopranos story. โNice little log cabin you got here. Be a shame if something happened to it.โ
The modern tradition surrounding a pixie Elf named Fisbee started in America in the 1970s and then went viral in 2005 because of a book published by the Pitt sisters, Chanda and Christa and their mom. I guess you could say that the Elf is the Pitts, but I wouldnโt say that.
Today, the Elf is a big brand, owned by The Lumistella Company, still led by the family.
Hereโs how it works:
For those who have been living under a rock (or like a Scandinavian troll under a bridge), the Elf is a โscout Elfโ who sits on a shelf, table or elsewhere in the house and closely observes the childrenโs behavior during the holiday season.
Every night, the Elf flies back to the North Pole and rats out the kids to Santa Claus who in turn uses the info to make his naughty and nice list picks. The Elf then returns before the children wake up and settles in a new spot and starts the surveillance again. The rules are that the children must not touch the Elf, or its magic is lost, and the Elf remains still during the day but comes alive at night.
Letโs be blunt. The Elf is a snitch, a stoolie, a squealer who manipulates little ones into good behavior by threatening to have Santa withhold Christmas presents. Is that a good example to set for Christmas? Little rat fink.
OK, thatโs maybe a little harsh (although accurate.)
True Elf-lore aficionados will point out that precursors to Fisbee the Elf can be found as far back as the late 1940s and early 1950s in Japan.
They were mass-produced in the US-occupied Japan as part of the rebuilding of Japanese manufacturing to pay off its war debts to the US after WWII. They were called โknee-huggingโ Elves because their arms and legs were constructed with a fabric covered wire that could be bent and shaped to hold on to oneโs leg.
Today, the Elf on a Shelf is a heavy-duty global brand with a big media presence in North America, Europe, Australia and yes, Japan.
But I donโt trust him.
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