My first job out of college was working for the company that produces The Elf on the Shelf. I actually participated in the first international trade show the company attended in London in Jan of 2010. This marks the elf’s 10th Christmas in the UK.
I can imagine young Laurence grabbing the Elf on the Shelf, placing it on the window ledge (becoming the Fink on the Brink) and swatting it into the back yard (now the Snitch in the Ditch).
A few years ago, my sister tried to do the Elf on the Shelf thing. My niece, four at the time, dragged a chair over, took the doll down off the shelf, and buried it at the bottom of the guest room closet, so it couldn’t spy on her. I was SO PROUD!
It was a invention of the Hallmark Company to sell another ornament and it not a tradition at all. And the Elf on the Shelf is from a series of books even though people claim it has been around for generations.
@@chicagodaddy1 I'm polish American and my best friend is from Poland and either of us has ever heard of a Christmas pickle. He even asked his parents and they had never heard of it.
Santa as a whole is pretty creepy. "You better watch out, you better not cry...he sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake!" Oh, I WILL watch out all right, just not in the way you think.
@@Lexykins2691 Lived in Norway for thirty years, never heard of trolls being used in this way! To be honest, the only mention of trolls is generally in the tourist souvenir shops.
@@NorthernChev Well, it was at least some kind of a "thing" since the 1970s, of not earlier. Maybe the book made it much more popular, but I guarantee it's older than that.
Agreed. Although the bit about the Doctor leaving the TARDIS brake on is wrong. The sound the TARDIS makes is the machine going from demat to remat mode as shown while Tom Baker was the Doctor! It would have been interesting if #4 had encountered the Weeping Angels and offered them jelly babies....
So many parents regret starting the Elf on the Shelf thing, especially if they have kids that stretch over 8 years because you have to keep that up for many many years. I quite like the thought of doing it for the cat because it's like, it could be on a different table/shelf each day and the cat can knock it off.
Love candy canes, always had them on the tree. I have never heard of a Christmas pickle. So far I have received 4 Christmas photo cards. I had Christmas mugs before Starbucks. We did not have elf on the shelf when I was a kid. In fact I only learned about it a few years ago. I find it quite disturbing.
My mom got one, but we kids were all adults then. So Santa and his elves held no sway. No, it was Mom we had to pass muster through, or she would TELL Santa we'd been bad. And Mom had eyes in the back of her head, no elf necessary.
My parents lived in Germany in the mid 1950’s and came home with a Christmas pickle that we had on the tree for years. Don’t remember when it got busted, but with 4 boys, I have no doubt that it did.
The elf on the shelf is older than that. People had them in the 50's. I have a glass pickle. It's hard to find lol. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays❤🌲❤
I first heard of the Christmas Pickle when I was shopping at Bronner's (the ULTIMATE CHRISTMAS STORE!) In Frankenmuth , Michigan (VERY Bavarian)... if you have never been there, you should! They had one of their many many many MANY decorated trees dedicated entirely to the Christmas Pickle as well as a tree for each of multitude of other traditions of which you probably have never heard. And also eat at Zehnder's (the chicken!!!!)
I really don't get it. How can you get an extra present from Santa on Christmas morning if he came the night before? Does he just bring the extra present then and leave it open for anyone who finds the pickle?
Could be akin to fortune cookies. Which were never a thing in China. It's an American made product that has been adopted but the culture it was imitating.
I am 64 years old and I have never heard of a CHRISTMAS PICKLE! Or, the ELF ON THE SHELF! Was born and raised in Oregon. Roger now in Pierre South Dakota
Elf on the Shelf was a story and christmas toy in the Aebersold family. When mom, Carol, retired and her children grew up and moved out, Carol was lonely and depressed. Her daughter suggested that they share their elf story with the country, and she write a children's book about the elf. And it has grown to a full empire of Elf on the Shelf. (I saw an interview with the family on tv)
I'm a retired school teacher who still works in the school system. the kids come to school so excited to share what their elf on the shelf was up to each morning. The elf on the shelf phenomenon is more for the adults now than the children. The adults try to outdo each other with the clever and interesting places that the elf on the shelf can be found: hanging upside down inside the dryer , sitting on the milk in the refrigerator, riding a skateboard through the living room, well you get the drift. The parents sneak around after the kids go to bed and change the Elf's location and adventure each night. We did get a notice from the school board this year to not emphasize the elf on the shelf so much because there are children who don't have an elf on the shelf and they don't get to experience all the fun. but they also told the teachers they couldn't do the elf on the shelf in their classroom anymore either because it emphasized Christmas too much over the other winter holiday of Hanukkah. So now the kids who didn't have an elf on the shelf at home aren't going to get one at school either. Bah humbug. 🎅🎄 For more clever ideas of how to make your elf on the shelf experience more fun check pinterest. There are millions of posts oh look where I put my elf on the shelf!!!!
Another Christmas tradition you've probably never heard of: waiting until the wee hours of Christmas Eve to wrap presents for your 8 kids, getting so desperate that you call your sister to help and she shows up with extra scissors and tape AND a fifth of Bacardi. Christmas morning the kids are astounded to see Auntie asleep on the couch and are bemused that Santa wrapped the presents in Walmart bags.
Definitely overpriced, but there are usually three blends on offer. It's difficult to imagine that you would not be able to find one flavor which doesn't remind you of the taste you imagine you would receive from drinking battery acid. Just saying...
@@jaykaiser1754 I meant exactly what I said. Please read more carefully. I'm not saying it's one of my favorite coffee joints nor am I condoning their business practices. If I own any of their stock it's tucked away in a mutual fund. BTW, I doubt either of you have tasted battery acid. Get a life!
The picture cards started because relatives would ask for your picture annually, usually around Christmas to keep up on some family and/or friends wall for the next year to remember you and what you look like (which makes more sense when you realize how big the US is and how far we often live from family and that this started before the internet). But like all practical traditions it kept up even after it didn’t make sense anymore and the internet helped us make it more efficient and blend the picture and the card together. People still keep a wall of friends and family this way though, and I still think it’s nice. Finding your picture in someone’s house makes you all warm feeling. And also helps you see who just threw it out and who didn’t😬
I enjoy this so much. I listen for different pronunciations of words. Patent and controversy are the two I noticed today. Very different. Looking in tomorrow.Peace.
I work for the company that makes Starbucks cups and every year, Christmas designs are a well kept secret from the day they are produced until the day they ship to the stores. You're correct about the shakeup of the red cup. I was shocked when the first one came off the line. Cheers!
Elf on a shelf is a relatively new thing it wasn't even a thing until I was in my 20's and around here the elf is very mischievous as well as a tattletale
It's actually a very old thing that recently got commercialized. (He stated in the video 2005.) I'm in my 50s and my grandmother had quite a few of these when I was growing up. They were pretty popular in the 50s and 60s. They were known as Japanese Knee Hugger Pixies/Elves. I think of them very fondly, as they make me think of her.
It doesn't even make sense within the Santa legend. He can already watch you when you are sleeping and when you are awake. Why would he need an elf to spy on kids? It's just redundant.
My Elf On A Shelf is at least 69 years old. My Mom !oved putting it out each year and after her death I continued the tradition. Should have said our Elf never moved around and wasn't spying on anyone either.
@@beckysimeone4882 what part of the USA do you live in? BC it wasn't a thing around here until a few years ago at the same time certain parts of the country don't have sweet tea
My family & I do the Christmas pickle on the Christmas tree. We just don’t do the extra gift part, though we did one year. And yes, we do have German heritage.
Thanks to my parents, for their first Christmas in 1950 she bought a complete set of 6 of the elves the year they came out. Long before they added the shelf part. And now each of us kids have 1 each along with a putz house from the village set. These are our most precious Christmas keepsakes 😊🎄
I was just given a Christmas Pickle as a stocking stuffer from my friends like 2 days ago, never heard about it till then, and now Lawrence mentions one. XD
I never understood Elf on the Shelf. The elf does naughty things and spies on the kids for Santa. I guess I'm a grinch because I just don't find it funny.
I think he's used one way or the other. Families either have fun with him, making him a naughty elf... or he's the spy reporting back naughtiness to Santa. I don't think he's both.
A Jewish friend of ours had the Yiddish equivalent (still in the open display box), or maybe an Ashkenazi parody, of the Elf: a figure of an older man dressed in Hasidic garb sitting on a bench reading something: it was sold as the Mensch on a Bench! It didn’t spy on anyone, just sat there minding its own business.
I never did either. It was like those stupid cupie dolls or old, ugly troll dolls. I'm glad I was an adult before Mom got one. I would have hidden it in my toy box and Mom would probably shrugged and let it be.
We had the elf on the shelf waaaaaay back when I was a kid over 62 years ago and it was a lot older then me. My mom would sometimes hang him with his hands tucked beneath his knees and holding a faux mistletoe ball in the doorway of the kitchen. So the elf on the shelf has been around a lot long then the book. He was one of the decorations i always looked forward to finding the the Christmas decoration box and putting up first, it just wasn't Christmas without him. Sadly, after a few household moves of my parents, he went missing.😥 Love your humor, Lawrence. 😀
Yes candy canes have been sold at Christmas in uk for a LONG time. However they are not as popular here as they are in America or some other countries. This surprises me since they aren’t that dissimilar to rock candy from the seaside and people seem to love buying a stick of rock at the seaside.
Best pic/meme I ever saw in regards to "Elf on the Shelf" was one of two dogs and a destroyed "Elf on the Shelf." One dog has a placard hanging from his neck that reads, "I ATE Elf on the Shelf;" the other dog's placard reads, "I helped because he is creepy."
Just found you on RU-vid. Very amusing! I wanted to add that the elf was added to our holiday only the last few years. I’m the grandmother and I’m happy to say I started it in the family, my 5, DIL, 4 SILS and 14 GC. Our elves are subversive. The emphasis is the elf is naughty not the kids. Every evening after kids go to sleep, parents set up naughty scenes instigated by the elf. In the morning kids investigate all the naughtiness the elf did (and they would never do) with much laughter. I receive messages and pictures every morning from the grandchildren that make my day. We also have the pickle, a leftover from my own German grandmother. We skip the gift though.
That is because contrary to popular belief it is not a tradition at all, but something that was made up by Hallmark in the late 1980s to sell an ornament. People who were born and raised in the 1960s also swear the Elf on A Shelf was around during their childhoods even though it is based on a 1990s book.
@@bigscarysteve So, the elf was around, in other forms. My mom had the ornaments on the tree, I've owned the pencils, etc. Then, yes, someone did decide to write a story, so that whole expensive box set and all of the outfits, etc happened
I have three early fifties elves that my beloved paternal grandparents used every Christmas on their mantle decorations. I claimed them after my grandfather died and began collecting like era elves. It got out of hand and yesterday gave my three small ones and The Elf on the Shelf to the kids of my aide who comes in to help me shower (disabled), and her kids are genuinely delighted. Win win!
People who don’t have kids and say “I haven’t started shopping yet” don’t know the true sweat down your neck of Christmas in the USA. 😂 Joking. But not. I’m fine hahah
Christmas peppermint pig. Comes with a miniature hammer in a small cloth pouch. Was introduced in the 1880s in Saratoga Springs, NY. I'm Canadian and received one of these piggy's in my stocking one year. I had never seen one before or since.
Elf on the shelf, Christmas scented plugins, Christmas scented candles and last and not least, candy canes! Peppermint, and other flavors. They also have Mac and cheese candy canes!
@@cjmarsh504 I found about 8 unusual flavored candy canes. From clam and mushroom to pickle and kale! It’s not a complete write off though there’s a bacon flavored one. I’m going to make candy cane bouquets.. we’ll see if they can identify the flavors. Gotta make Christmas fun this year !!!
Our family does the Christmas pickle!!! My dad got my husband and I our ornament for our first married Christmas together too. Thankfully it didn't break the Seco d year when our tree fell over 🙄🙄😊
I started doing the Christmas pickle about 10-12 years ago, and the grandkids always enjoyed being the one to find it, they'd get to open the little box with the elf hat on it and claim the money and candy inside. We do the pickle hunt before anyone opens their gifts, and it's just a way to add a little bit more fun to the day.
The pickle thing was an invention of Hallmark in 1986 or so. I was a senior in high school at the time and thought it would never become a tradition, but now people think it is a Polish or German tradition when it was just a marketing ploy.
@@petenielsen6683 Thank you for the info. It doesn't matter to me where or when it started, I just thought it sounded fun to have the grandkids look for the pickle and win a little prize. They sure enjoy it and that's the first thing the mention when they come in the door. Old tradition or new marketing scheme, just have fun with it, and have a Happy Holiday!
Christmas Pickle I discovered from Christmas Catalogs ad copy. The Elf on the Shelf was originally a give away decoration from Sears and other companies in the 60s. The 2005 Story was new. Our elf was either in tree or hung over a doorway. No stories of a tattle tale elf were attached.
I think I've eaten four boxes of candy canes in the past two weeks. And my mom sends a family photo card. But it's just her. And her dogs. And her decrepit antiques. Yes it's a bit painful.
Never heard of any pickles in trees. The candy canes are sometimes used as tree decoration and the kids get to have one occasionally as a treat. As for the pics on the cards? That's relatively new with the advent of digital photography. Before this most people weren't going out to a photographer to get a family pic for this holiday.
My grandma had 2 elves, 1 green, 1 red. Sometimes they were on a shelf or on top of the TV sometimes they were stuck in the Christmas tree but I didn't hear the story about the elf on the shelf until I was in my late 30s, same thing with the pickle. I learned about it in my 30s when I saw the ornament at a Christmas shop. I had to buy one and I enjoy seeing it nestled deep in the tree.
As an American, the only time I've ever heard or seen "Elf on the Shelf" was in memes the past few years...I never even knew of its origins. West Coast, here.
We would always put a hat on our Christmas tree, and go visit our relatives Christmas morning. My dad would hide an egg on him for the Christmas breakfast, and all of the men would exchange socks, but then again, we're Leutonian!
With the virus going around, we need Dr. Fauci's guidance. So instead of Elf on the shelf, let's change it to Fauci on the couchy. I credit this bit of humor from either Steven Colbert or Jimmy Kimmel, I can't remember , it's either one or the other.
Dearest Whiteowl, Fauci-on-the couchy is the very best !!! God love you for it. !! Isn’t/hasn’t it all gotten nutz ? A happy Yule to you..🎄 Nobody can change the Solstice. 💕
@@ginnyjollykidd "Sir, this person's search history includes how to make chloroform, dissolve a body, and cover up a crime scene. Should I flag her?" "No. Look, she also searched for coffee and energy drinks, and about a dozen different synonyms for 'carefully.' It's another dang writer. Move on."
Elf on the Shelf is here for some in New Zealand. He doesn't stop on a shelf overnight though...he is naughty and does things in the night, leaving traces of his being there, such as, getting into the Pantry and in the kitchen attempting (and I mean attempting) to make the household family a cake...flour over the counter, the floor, eggs cracked and missed the cup, milk splashed about....you get the picture....every night of the month of December, the elf will be at it!...One fun one is him bungy jumping from the stair banner and knocking over a plant pot......LOL...its all harmless fun and the mess easy to clean up....nothing is out of bounds though.... ;)
The elf on the shelf has moved to Norway, too, but in a much more fun reincarnation! Rampenissen (the "mischievous elf") has become very popular with young families and even in daycare. There is no reporting to Santa or spying. Instead the rampenisse (often the same commercially available doll as in the US, but not always) does funny things at night - replaces the tube of toothpaste with a tube of chocolate spread, writes Christmas songs with toilet humour on the toilet roll, makes snow angels in icing sugar on the kitchen table, builds things in Lego on the sitting room floor - all kinds of amusing antics!
Somebody gave my daughter an Elf On A Shelf, I think somewhere around 2000. I tried to help her out by hooking the Elf up with the best Barbies my daughter had. I constantly posed them in the most elegant/romantic of positions hoping to score points with the Elf for my daughter's sake. It didn't take long for my daughter to catch on and help come up with Ideas. My "Little Angel" needed all the help she could get. That's actually a happy christmas time memory for me now. 😉👍
Elf on the shelf is such an absurdly creepy concept, right up there with "he sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake". Honestly for a nation that's so ridiculously loud about their ~freedom~ they're awfully quick to teach their kids that they have no right to privacy and that 24/7 surveillance is somehow a normal, good thing. Quite fascinating...
Elf on the Shelf is down right creepy! The photo cards, are popular in part because family and friends tend to live all around the country and rarely see each other.
Thank you for saying it: the elf is creepy, and I cannot for the life of me understand why people put the little hell doll in their houses. And did you know you can buy extra outfits for it?! 😳
Elf on the Shelf is a new tradition. I was born in 1970 and literally NO ONE had one when I was a child. It was a thing that ascended, as you point out, in 2005. My children didn't have one, but they did have "Black Peter" as an accompaniment to St. Nicholas and Santa Claus (my wife is German, so we kept both days), and in their teens Krampus made an appearance (My wife's brother's kids needed a scare).
Elf on the Shelf is the dumbest thing to stress out parents *and* kids I’ve ever seen. Seriously... it’s all just for your friends on Instagram... your kids only care because you do.
Thanks for solving a small mystery for me. Every year growing up, upon decorating the Christmas tree, there were one or two pickle ornaments amongst the rest. Since we'd always had them I never questioned it. Now some of our Christmas ornaments when back to my mother''s maternal grandfather, who is the only non-Irish presence in my ancestry. He apparently brought some German ornaments with him, bought other German ornaments here, and ordered some by mail from home. He was a Swabian from Stuttgart in Baden Wurtemmburg, right on the border of the Black Forest, and the heartland of German Christmas ornaments (best place in the world still to buy Christmas ornaments year round, but especially in season at the local Weinachten Markt). So we had the Christmas Pickle, but we never knew the tradition of parents hiding it amongst the tree branches, the kids searching for it, and the extra present. I'll tell my own family and my siblings about this. Thanks very much. Froliche Weinachten!
I can't stand that stupid Elf on The Shelf. Also, I have lived in the US my whole life and have never heard of the Christmas Pickle. And those family photo Christmas cards are pretty annoying.
My mom put out a pair of elves for Christmas decoration in our house since at least the 50's, so the tradition had been around a lot longer than that book. However, she used to put them on a pair of wall sconces. I suppose Elf on a Sconce isn't as catchy. (Ponce on a Sconce?)
