How We Got Our Name

Many years ago, the “adventurous” Larry Moyer was portraying a Belsnickel at a Colonial Christmas Village in Lancaster County, PA, as a favor for his wife, who had organized the festivities. A friend called, asking Sally where to find an authentic-looking Santa costume to use in playing a practical joke on one of his Amish buddies.

A Santa? With an Amishman?!?! Yes, this guy wanted to plan “payback” for a very hot pepper incident that the Amishman had orchestrated on him.

Would a Belsnickel do? After all, the German traditional background would be similar.

What would be the setting for this “joke?” Well, it seems that the Amishman had agreed to allow a local historical society to arrange a Holiday House Tour through his home, an action that did not sit well with some of the elders of his church. To have a Belsnickel there, ringing a bell over a sign that read, “Contributions for the Amish Historical Society,” would only deepen the hole he had already “dug” for himself. (Especially since there is no such Amish organization.)

To make a very long story short, let’s just say that despite the embarrassment this scenario caused him, the Amishman loved the joke and he and the “Belsnickel” became friends. This was then the beginning of a relationship that led the Belsnickel and his family into a business relationship with the Amishman and his family.

Eventually, the Amishman decided to pursue other vocations, and today some of his employees and craftsmen continue to work with Larry and Sally.

Thus, items that were first inspired by that pepper payback encounter, along with hundreds more, are sold on this site and in stores and catalogs throughout the world, having earned Belsnickel Enterprises, Inc. the prestigious title of “The Bell People.”