Crawling elves

Did you know that the charming little cardboard elves that peek out from the bookshelves and paintings in Danish homes every December are a thoroughly Danish invention? Many of our beloved Christmas traditions have roots abroad, such as the Christmas tree and Advent wreath from Germany, mulled wine from Sweden and the modern Santa Claus from Turkey. But two special traditions are deeply rooted in the Danish soil: the Christmas sign and the use of elves as Christmas decorations.

We have to rewind time to 1947 to find the introduction of the crawling Santa Claus in Denmark. It was the renowned cartoonist Frederik Bramming who was behind the very first sheets, which quickly became a resounding success. He and a number of other talented cartoonists and artists created countless crawling Santa Claus designs over the years. So when you see a crawling Santa Claus poking cheekily out from a bookshelf or balancing on a picture frame today, you can send Bramming a kind thought for having started this wonderful Christmas tradition.

Although cardboard elves were not new in themselves when Bramming invented his first toothless crawling elves, the breakthrough was in the ingenious little balance flap. It was this flap that allowed the crawling elves to "crawl" and sit without having to lean on other things. Suddenly, they could eat potted plants, balance on top of the book collection and spread Christmas cheer everywhere.

When the first print run of 80,000 pages of crawling dolls was torn off the shelves, the success was undeniable. In the following years, several publishers and artists began designing their own crawling dolls for sale. The heyday of crawling dolls was in the 1950s and 60s, when crawling dolls could easily be purchased in bookstores across the country. And if you were a child in the 1980s, you may remember that crawling dolls often came with weekly magazines, which made them accessible to even more people.

Today, the crawling elves have crawled far beyond Denmark's borders, and the popularity of the small, climbing cheerleaders has grown far more than Frederik Bramming could ever have imagined when he drew the first lines in 1947. They have become a global ambassador for Danish Christmas cheer!

At Juleeventyr.com you will find a wide selection of crawling elves, both in Bramming's traditional design with the long elves' hats and loose leggings, as well as other well-known designs from artists such as Vilhelm Hansen. You can easily buy your crawling elves online from us and start your own tradition. When you buy a sheet of crawling elves, you not only get a new piece of charming Christmas decoration. You also get a cozy activity that the whole family can gather around. All you need is a pair of age-appropriate scissors and maybe some Christmas music on Spotify, and you are ready to cut out your crawling elves and bring them to life around the home. It is a perfect way to create Christmas cheer for children and adults.