Comments by "Debany Doombringer" (@debanydoombringer1385) on "The International Gangs Who Steal Gnomes" video.

@zellafae Yes. A lot of people did this in the US and thus the Travelocity Gnome was born.
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That is a different thing. Those gnomes were travel gnomes and returned with photos of their fun at the end of it. This is gnomes being stolen and released into the wild in forests.
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That happened a lot and is where the Travelocity Gnome comes from. Young people going on vacation would kidnap a gnome and take it with them. Taking pictures or sending postcards of it's travels and return it at the end of their vacation.
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As others have mentioned in the comments during the late 80s and early 90s young people going on holiday would kidnap a gnome they'd see often. It might be a neighbors or just one they'd drive by often. They'd take the gnome with them taking pictures and sending postcards. The gnome was returned at the end with photos and how it's wanderlust had been sated. It's still done on occasion today, but not anywhere near the level it was done back then. This is why there is the Travelocity gnome in the advertising. He's one of those gnomes with wanderlust and never travels alone. I've got a feeling these groups sprang from that and just took it further. It also explains why a lot of people didn't report the thefts. They likely believed it would return from its adventures. Edit: Also in the early days of the internet the gnome might be passed off to several different people before finally returning. There were message boards dedicated to it.
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Yes elves and fairies are terrifying creatures. They'll mess with you relentlessly if you disturb them or don't pay them proper tribute. That's believed in several European cultures.
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