Archer Hotel New York brings fun to this holiday season, beginning with a game throughout the month of December. They find that a moment of playfulness goes a long way toward caring for over scheduled and road-weary guests.
Each day, guests of the hotel, fabrick restaurant, Spyglass Rooftop Bar and Bugatti Bar are challenged to find “Archie,” the resident elf. Upon finding Archie, guests return him to the front desk and claim a reward
Elf on the shelf's modernhistory
Although some of the Archetype team members have clear memories (dating back to the 1970’s in some cases) of a felt-suited elf spying on them when they are children, Elf on the Shelf has made a recent and huge commercial comeback in publishing, on Television, and upon vast scores of Elf on the Shelf Pinterest boards devoted to his antics.
Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition is a children’s picture book which was was self-published in 2005 by mother-daughter team Carol Aebersold and Chanda Bell in a box set with the elf himself. The story explains how each new elf becomes magical once named, and then travels back and forth to the North Pole giving Santa Claus updates on the naughtiness or niceness of his/her human household. Families have fashioned clothing for their elves, enjoyed detailed tableaus created by the elves whilst everyone else sleeps, and have reportedly been generally nicer since this little guy appeared on the scene. It’s a happy coincidence for parents that Elf on the Shelf is well protected from being damaged by little curious hands because of the book’s warning that the elf’s magic disappears if anyone touches him/her.
Archie's first friend
Ms. Trenton, a celebrating birthday girl and hotel guest, has located Archie and has chosen a jar of Urban Sea Salt from the little imp’s prize basket. Ms. Trenton has been playing along with Archer on Instagram, too. Check out her posts at #archergrams.
Elf Lore
The tradition of an elf visiting children during December began in the 1950’s or before. Many a blog, like Glenda Manus’, The Late-Blooming Writer, detail the elf tradition as they remember it from decades ago. Joanne Woodard, a second grade Connecticut teacher, posted an image of her father’s elves from what she believes must be at least 70 years ago. Mrs. Woodard brought her dad’s elves to school so that the ONE student who doesn’t have an elf at home could be part of the “elf conversation” with other students.
Whether Archie is a new idea, a throwback filled with precocity, or a little bit of both, we are glad our guests are game for some holiday hide-and-seek. Yes, December is busy. And yes, you should absolutely steal a moment for yourself to play.
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