2025 marks a milestone for a Christmas book that sparked a holiday tradition for millions of families: Elf on the Shelf is 20 years old. The first book about the beloved and sometimes mischievous character was published along with the elf doll in 2005. CBS News' Dave Malkoff has more.

The Elf on the Shelf, a Christmas book and doll set that began in 2005, is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2025. Created by Atlanta sisters Chandra Bell and Krista Pitts, the tradition has grown to include over 30 million elves sold across 29 countries, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Atlanta is marking the occasion with festive events, including ice skating and holiday shopping, despite unseasonably warm weather. The Elf on the Shelf has become a prominent part of holiday festivities, even featuring in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and inspiring themed performances and celebrations.

Celebrating 20 years of "The Elf on the Shelf"

2025 marks a milestone for the Christmas book that sparked a holiday tradition for millions. Elf on the Shelf, 20 years old. The first book about the beloved and sometimes mischievous character was published along with the elf doll in, let me do, checks math, looks notes, oh yeah, 2005, that makes sense. Since then, more than 30 million elves have been sold across 29 countries. That data comes to us via the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. CBS News national correspondent Dave Malkoff joins us from Atlanta where that first elf was created. David, it's great to see you. Tell us how people are getting into this in Atlanta. Great to see you, Major. You can see people on the ice skating rink here. Have you been outside today, Major? Have you been outside there in New York? Yes, I have. It's very cold and very windy. Do you know that it's going to feel like 76 degrees? In fact, it feels like 76 degrees right now. People are kind of doing a bit of, you know, the, kind of, you know, putting on the coats and pretending like they're hot. They're not very hot here because it feels like 76 degrees. So how are they actually ice skating? You might ask that. Well, this is not polyurethane. This is actual ice. There's about two inches here. Most of it is water right now, but there is an industrial chiller right here, Major, that is working its butt off to make sure that this ice stays cold for the kids who are coming out here to see the shopping and to see the tree lighting and some movies that they have out here and definitely the ice skating. There are packed stores here. I went, Major, over to the jewelry store back there. That was packed. Maybe people are trying to do a little bit of holiday proposals today. Yes, and we want to keep our eyes out for anyone ice skating in a tank top when it's 76 degrees. What about the 20th anniversary of Elf on a Shelf? What's the elf of it all about this? Well, you know, about 20 years ago, Chandra Bell and her sister Krista Pitts, they live right here in the Atlanta area. And this has been like a quirky family tradition that they've done for years and years. But then they said, well, why don't we put this together as a book? They tried to do that. Publishers bought. They said nobody likes rhyming books. Nobody likes any of that nonsense. We're not going to publish it. So they self-published. That was 20 years ago. Now we have the giant Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. You know, Ariana Grande was on Saturday playing an Elf on a Shelf. We'll have more on the CBS Evening News coming up tonight. Dave Malkoff coming to us from Atlanta. Thank you so very much. And as Dave just mentioned, you can see his full piece about the Elf on the Shelf anniversary tonight. And I'll be anchoring in case you're curious. The CBS Evening News beginning at 6 30 p.m. Eastern.

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Breakdown