Where did the idea of Santa's elves come from?
by 
Trisha Had her baby
ANSWERS: 3
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'Twas the night before Christmas a poem by Clement Clarke Moore. He was the guy who gave them names.
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"Modern Christmas elves find their origin in the House Gnomes of the Scandinavia present since the pagan times. It was believed that these gnomes guarded homes against evil and were benevolent and helpful to good people. However, they could be quite nasty to people who were rude to them or had been naughty and then, they are even depicted as trolls and cannibals. Thus, for centuries, they were both loved and loathed. In the mid-1800s, Scandinavian writers such as Zacharias Topelius, and Viktor Rydberg transformed the image of these gnomes to Christmas elves that were almost like mischievous fairies but were good at heart. In keeping with the popularization of Christmas, they were depicted as true friends and helpers of Father Christmas or Santa Claus. Artists such as Jenny Eugenia Nyström painted Santa's elves in their present forms." Source: http://www.blueappleplayers.org/lesson_plans/MRFE%20Lesson%20Plan.pdf
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From the 1860's through the 1890's, illustrator Thomas Nast produced a series of illustrations of St. Nick for Harper's Magazine, which included details such as Santa's workshop, the elves who made toys, and Santa's "list" of children who'd been naughty and nice. Our modern Santa was certainly "born" in the series of illustrations used by the Coca-Cola Company, beginning in the 1930's. Along the way, someone ingeniously decided that Santa lived in a remote, nearly inaccesible location, the North Pole, presumably to discourage inquisitive children from persuading their parents to take them for a visit.
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