Help solve a Christmas mystery: Where did my vintage elf come from?

I have a Christmas mystery I need you to help me solve. I posted photos on social media not long ago of an “elf” that has sat nestled in my family’s Christmas trees since the 1960s and, thanks to a commenter, I decided I needed to know its origins.

With both my parents gone, I know nothing about it, so I turned to the internet.

I learned the quirky little guy is a precursor to Elf on the Shelf; in fact, EOS was modeled after similar mid-century elves that were made in Japan. They are called “knee-hugger” figures because their sewn-together hands wrap around bent knees. They were made to resemble elves, snowmen and Santas. I’ll tell you more about what I learned below but the main thing I learned is that my “elf” is unique. I uploaded photos of him into Google with no luck. I searched eBay and Etsy.

The closest result to my figure was one referred to as a knee-hugger snowman. Several were made with polka-dot fabric covering their bodies, like mine. But the ones I found were different in a few ways:

• My elf has ears – non-pointed, human-looking ears. Some knee-hugger elves have pointy ears and some have human-looking ears. The knee-hugger snowmen I found, however, all have earmuffs in the place of ears. See an example for sale on SadRosetta.com.
• My elf has an oversized top hat pulled down over its forehead. Knee-hugger elves are typically wearing a pointed “elf hat,” while the knee-hugger snowmen have smaller top hats perched atop their heads. See an example from WorthPoint.com.
• I found no markings on my elf but information online says that, after 1952, small oval stickers were used to mark items “Made in Japan” and many of those came off over the years.

Does anyone know anything about my little guy? If so, comment here or email me at kellykazek@kellykazek.com.

In the meantime, here are some things I learned about knee-huggers elves:

1. A woman who commented on my photo on social media said elves were given away as a promotion in the 1960s for Thrill dish soap. Bobbye Ann said her mother collected the different versions. I searched online and learned you can find them on eBay still attached to the bottle of 60-year-old dish liquid. See one here.
2. They were manufactured beginning in the 1950s in Japan. According to PopOff.us: “Made by a company called Yuletide, then licensed to some other companies, including Dakin, the knee-hugger was a key element in the American-led effort to get Japan’s post-war economy running.”
3. The knee-hugger elves from post-war Japan were cheaply made and were created to sit on shelves or hang from Christmas trees.
4. They were the inspiration for elf in the 2004 children’s book called “Elf on the Shelf,” which led to the marketing phenomenon of the “scout elf” doll who watches children in each household and reports their behavior to Santa.