From Marietta to millions, ‘The Elf on the Shelf’ turns 20

Credit: RODNEY HO

Credit: RODNEY HO

Now named Lumistella, the privately held business based in an Atlanta office building, is decked out in festive Christmas decor 365 days a year. Even with tariff-related challenges, business is holly jolly with more than 120 full-time employees, up from 70 a decade ago, most of whom work locally. (The company doesn’t release specific financial data.)

“It’s surreal. I can’t believe this is where my life is,” said Bell, 51, who is co-CEO with her twin sister.

“To be able to grow our little family tradition into a thriving business with all these characters and stories has been really gratifying,” said Pitts. “I think it worked because it came from something genuine and heartfelt.”

The Elf on the Shelf is now firmly entrenched in the holiday lexicon.

There have been more than 20 books, four animated specials now available on Netflix, a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade float and a “Saturday Night Live” skit. There is limited edition Elf on the Shelf cereal and related merchandise ― from toys and clothing to games and craft kits ― sold in 29 countries.

Credit: LUMISTELLA

Credit: LUMISTELLA

A new Amazon Christmas film “Oh. What. Fun.,” shot in metro Atlanta starring Michelle Pfeiffer, features several jokes about an Elf on the Shelf that scares Jason Schwartzman’s character in the dead of night.

And for years, inventive fans have posted endless “Elf on the Shelf”-related memes on social media that start with the line: “You’ve heard of Elf on the Shelf, but what about …” and ending in some sort of clever or corny rhyme and Photoshopped image.

Pitts recalled actress Elizabeth Banks posting one in 2019 called “Hanks on Banks” where Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump is sitting on Banks’ shoulder. Other celebrities followed with similar memes. Reese Witherspoon offered John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John on her shoulder, calling it “Grease-on-Reese” while Idina Menzel posted “Denzel on Menzel.”

Fisbee started it all

The first known Elf on the Shelf was a pixie doll elf with an impish grin who grew up with Carol Aebersold in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. At the time, he had no name. He was just part of the decorations.

But in 1974, after Aebersold had twin daughters, she decided to bring the elf back. She named him Fisbee and, based loosely on Scandinavian folklore, told her girls that he helped Santa keep tabs on them. They were not allowed to touch Fisbee or he would lose his magic. Then Aebersold began moving Fisbee around each day, calling it a fun “hide and seek” game for the girls and her younger son Brandon.

“I distinctly remember whispering to Fisbee and talking to him like a friend,” Pitts said. “We would tell him about what we wanted for Christmas, and we would dream about what he was up to while we were at school. Sometimes he would have flown across the room while we were at school and it was so magical.”

Credit: RODNEY HO/AJC

Credit: RODNEY HO/AJC

The kids assumed Elf on the Shelf was commonplace among their peers until they went to college and realized “nobody knew what we were talking about,” Pitts said.

For years, Fisbee sat on a shelf in Aebersold’s west Cobb home largely forgotten.

One day in 2004, Aebersold was lamenting about feeling adrift without purpose now that the kids were grown. Bell, a young mom at the time, spied Fisbee on the shelf and had an idea: Spread the Elf on the Shelf story to the masses with a children’s book she and her mom (both former teachers) would cowrite.

Aebersold’s initial response was, “Oh, Chanda, nobody would want that!” But a tiny voice in her head countered her internal skeptic and told her to go for it.

When no publishers bit, the entire family including Aebersold’s husband Bob, who owned a steel fabrication company in Kennesaw, chipped in to self-publish 5,000 copies of “The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition” with elves included.

Bell loaded up on credit card debt. The Aebersolds cashed in their retirement savings. And Pitts quit her job as a QVC host and sold her house to take over the business end of things. During their first year, Bob let them use space at his office. “His employees helped unload our first container of goods,” Pitts said.

Credit: AJC

Credit: AJC

Aebersold and Bell traveled from holiday market to book fair to gift shop selling copies by hand out of a van. Retail price: $24.95. (Inflation has been kind to Elf on the Shelf: Amazon currently sells the original book for $29.99.)

“We are selling tradition: cheeseburgers and apple pie with ice cream,” Pitts told the AJC in 2007 at a children’s boutique in Acworth. “This creates happy memories that people long for.”

That year, Elf on the Shelf got a massive boost when paparazzi caught actress Jennifer Garner carrying the book, which led to a segment on NBC’s “Today.” Sales began to snowball.

“It was blood, sweat and tears,” Bell said in 2009. “We stuck to the vision God gave us.”

By then, the book was in 8,000 stores nationwide, nearing 1 million in sales with revenues close to $7 million. As social media grew, fans began posting their elves not just sitting on shelves but making breakfast, camping, playing board games and heating marshmallows. Kourtney Kardashian and Sarah Michelle Gellar spread their love of the elves to millions of their followers.

In 2011, the family sold an animated origin program, “An Elf’s Story,” to CBS, which aired on the network for three years alongside “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “Frosty the Snowman.”

In “An Elf’s Story,” now available on Netflix, a skeptical 9-year-old Taylor causes elf Chippey to lose his powers, but Taylor eventually changes his tune. As Bell explained to the AJC in 2011 about the story’s core message: “Christmas is something more than what you do. It’s what you carry in your heart.”

As Elf on the Shelf grew in popularity, it experienced some backlash. Scrooges online would complain that the elves were intrusive and a bit creepy, not representing the true spirit of Christmas.

“Everyone has an opinion,” Pitts said. “And for the most part I find that those who share that view have never read the book or tried it in their home. Some might say the concept of a bearded man dressed in red who sneaks into your home is creepy. So I say what I’ve always said, which is: ‘Take it up with Santa.’”

Blue or white Christmas?

The family business hit a snag in 2014 when their father Bob died unexpectedly at age 64. “He was this steady, wonderful, kind force,” Pitts said. “It became this crisis for our entire family.”

“We were all exhausted mentally and emotionally,” Bell said.

They pondered selling the company and moving on.

But Pitts recalled in a meeting saying, “I’m not done with this yet. I feel there can be more.”

The goal, Pitts and Bell agreed, was to expand beyond the elf itself. “I remember talking about Saint Bernards,” Bell said. “Is there a way to link Saint Bernards with St. Nicholas? That’s when my heart took a turn, Let’s take a trip and do some research!”

Pitts watched her sister in awe over the next few years come up with fresh ideas to expand what they would ultimately dub the Santaverse. “Chanda has grown into this storytelling juggernaut,” she said. “It was so fun to see.”

Credit: RODNEY HO/AJC

Credit: RODNEY HO/AJC

Diversification was a way to prevent Elf on the Shelf from fading away like a Beanie Baby, Tickle Me Elmo or a Cabbage Patch Doll.

At the same time, they had to figure out what diversification meant.

For instance, they acquired the rights to a story about a creature whose belly lit up like a night light to help a boy not to be afraid of the dark. “It was very cute, but the problem was that no one really wanted to talk to us about things that weren’t associated with Christmas,” Pitts said. “Plus, it diverted our focus and ate into our resources.”

Ultimately, “it helped us hone our vision as the keepers of Santa’s North Pole” and nothing else.

While Pitts calls Elf on the Shelf the core “hero brand” for the company, they successfully introduced a line of complementary Elf pets: a reindeer, a Saint Bernard and an Arctic fox named Noorah who can create snow with her tail. Each received a Netflix origin special. Elf babies called Frost Pips were introduced last year.

“We are creating a bigger, broader Santaverse with more characters for people to know and love,” Bell said, adding that she is optimistic for the company’s future: “We’ve taken these leaps of faith every five years that have paid off. I think we’re on the next cusp of great.”

As sales remain strong, Elf on the Shelf has time on its side. Children who grew up in the early years of Elf on the Shelf are now having kids themselves, enabling the tradition to continue for a new generation.

“We knew that would be the tipping point,” said Bell, whose children, now 19 and 23, were test subjects for years.

Pitts said college students bring their elves to school as a way to remind them of their childhood. “There are sororities that dress up as Elf on the Shelf and whole dorms that adopt elves and have naming committees,” she said.

Lumistella has been more aggressive than normal introducing new products for its 20th anniversary.

There’s a puzzle-oriented video game, “The Elf on the Shelf: Christmas Heroes,” on multiple gaming devices; an animated preschool series “Scout Elf Squad” on YouTube; and an album of songs, “The Elves Went Over the Mountain.

The company teamed up with Lowe’s to sell a life-size Elf on the Shelf, Flipz for branded pretzels and Beaches Resorts for an Elf on the Shelf Caribbean vacation suite where butlers ensure the elf stays comfy.

“We’re meeting our audience wherever they are,” Pitts said.

Credit: RODNEY HO/AJC

Credit: RODNEY HO/AJC

In October, Bell brought an Elf on the Shelf mascot to Seacrest Studios at Arthur M. Blank Hospital at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta to meet with the children and read from two new books she had written: “How Old is Santa Claus?” for younger kids and her first chapter book, “The Rise of Nicholas the Noble.”

Kelby Threlkeld, 31, of Hall County, smiled as he watched his 8-year-old son Zane, who was at the hospital for a bone infection, interact with the human-sized elf.

Threlkeld said he and his wife place their two sons’ elves Buddy and Chippey in different places during the holidays before they wake up. “We’ll have them doing something mischievous like rolling their room with toilet paper,” he said. “The kids love them very much and it has become a staple in our household for the holidays. I really hope they continue the tradition with their future children.”

Diversification has also meant expanding into more countries. Not surprisingly, Elf on the Shelf is big in Sweden and Norway, given its roots, Pitts said.

And it’s now so popular in Australia, Pitts recently flew Down Under to promote the anniversary. Asked by a host on “Today Show Australia” what her favorite elf activity is, Pitts extolled a family whose elf gift-wrapped everything in the kitchen, from the cutlery to the fridge.

But the most notable event this year for the twins was an Elf on the Shelf celebration in September on Marietta Square, a location that has special meaning to them.

“It was a full circle moment,” said Pitts. “It’s where we grew up. It’s where we went to church at First United Methodist on the Square. It’s where we had our very first book signing in a space donated by friends at Marietta Museum of History. It’s where our first major retailer sold our goods at Kathy’s Too Hallmark store. We returned home surrounded by our original supporters.”

Aebersold, who stepped away from day-to-day operations a decade ago and now lives in Florida, found the event especially moving.

“I wanted so badly to leave a legacy for my grandchildren,” she said, “and now I have millions of grandchildren who are enjoying it.”