Love them or hate them, if you've got kids, you've no doubt heard of Elf on the Shelf - but did you know the elf that inspired its creation had a completely different name?
Elf On The Shelf has become a popular Christmas tradition in the UK, where a little 'scout elf' is sent from the North Pole to make sure kids are behaving themselves in the lead-up to the big day. Every morning the cheeky elf can be found hidden around the house, usually doing something mischievous, before returning back to Santa to report on who's been naughty and nice.
In recent years Elf on the Shelf has been the source of magic and entertainment in many households leading up to Christmas - so it might be hard to imagine that he actually had a different name to begin with.
The Elf on the Shelf usually moves around the house (Lumistella Company/fivelittledoves)While you may think Elf on the Shelf was invented by a major toy company, it is actually based on a book created by Carol Aebersold and her grown twin daughters Chanda Bell and Christa Pitts in 2004. They wrote a poem that would be turned into a storybook - and the following year they launched their own company to bring the tradition to other families.
The idea itself actually dates back to their childhood in Georgia in the US in the 1970s, when they had an elf called Fisbee, who became the inspiration for Elf on the Shelf. Speaking to HuffPost, Christa said: "We had an elf growing up for as long as we can remember. Our elf was named Fisbee, and Fisbee of course would report to Santa Claus at night and be back in a different position in our house the next day.
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"We loved it. It was a chance for us to tell Santa directly what maybe we might want for Christmas, or to do good deeds so that Santa would know about them."
Unlike the free-moving Elf on the Shelf in many homes today, Fisbee was more like an ornament who stayed on the Christmas tree and didn't move. However, the tradition changed over time, and when Christa became a parent the elf would move magically overnight. She would tell them not to touch Fisbee or he would lose his magic.
It wasn't until 2004, when their mum left her job as a reading and language arts teacher to care for their son, that Chanda suggested writing a book and bring the magic into other people's homes. She explained: "It was during that time at home that I looked up and I saw our elf that we grew up with sitting on a shelf. I was like, 'mum, why don't we write a story about the elf on the shelf?' I can tell you honestly, at that time, there was no ― and I do mean zero ― intention of starting a business or really doing much of anything other than a fun project for mom and I to work on together."
However, once they completed the story, the sisters wanted to publish it, and because they received nothing but rejections from publishers, they self-published The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition.
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