The elves are back in town: Cincinnati kicks off the holiday season this weekend

The air is getting colder, the leaves are mostly gone, and the sun sets earlier and earlier. That can only mean one thing: the elves are coming. Shillito’s Elves to be exact. Downtown’s jolly holiday residents are set to return to their displays this weekend. The elves have been a presence since the 1950s, when they first appeared in the Queen City’s earliest department store, Shillito’s. The busy little folk can be seen in multiple scenes, including sorting letters to Santa Claus, building gifts in their workshop, and settling into bed after a long day. While their occasionally animated antics have now been moved to the ground-floor windows of Carew Tower, the elves are still a sign that the winter festivities are beginning in Cincinnati – and they don’t come alone. At 7 a.m. on Nov. 14, this year’s Duke Energy Holiday Tree will arrive at Fountain Square. The 58-foot-tall Norway Spruce is being brought down from Michigan and will come to rest in the southwest corner of the square.

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