Who came up with Santa's elves?

Question

My best guess is L. Frank Baum, author of the Wizard of Oz, but I still not sure.

Answer 1

They're based on the elves of tales like "the shoe maker and the elves" and the helpful elves of British fairy tales who if respected and fed milk (or beer) were helpful around the farmstead, but if slighted did things like leaving gates open, tangling horses manes, or souring the milk.

These elves in turn are based on the more fearsome elves, like the Sidhe that populated the barrows of the British Isles and can be found in plays like Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream.

These elves in turn are believed to be based on the pre-christian divinities of the British Isles, displaced by waves of Celts, Saxons, and Normans.

Answer 2

I can't give you a definitive answer either but Clement Clark Moore is credited with inventing the modern image of Santa Claus in a Visit from St. Nicholas. At one point he refers to him as an elf.

It may well be that the first picture of the workshop with the elves is Baum's book. I've never read it though -- only seen the Rankin-Bass animation (of course). Not to diss Baum but he wasn't as original as some people seem to think. His books were part of a very lively genre of childrens' literature also practiced by Thorton W. Burgess (whose Rutabaga Tales was a family treasure when I was growing up: my older sisters and brother ranged in age from ten to eight years older than me and we still fought over it). Given that there was about eighty years between Moore's poem and Baum's book, with a large number of these modern fairy tales being published especially after about 1880, I'm skeptical that Baum invented any major elements which are still in the image.

Answer 3

mommy elf and daddy elf :)~