Having looked over all the evidence in my last post, I concluded that all elves in OD&D can move about silently and with effective invisibility. Some sources attribute these stealth abilities to their elven cloaks and boots, which seems fair enough until one remembers that these are valuable and rare magic items. As much as I'd like to incentivize rampant elf-murder, the players probably shouldn't be finding these on the corpses of every elf they gank. So before I make a decision, I need to look at all of the evidence.
Chainmail
Chainmail is the origin of the elven ability to turn invisible, but at no point does it specify a reason for the ability.
OD&D Vol. 1: Men & Monsters
Nothing is said here about elven PCs being able to hide or move silently.
OD&D Vol. 2: Monsters & Treasure
"Elves have the ability of moving silently and are nearly invisible in their gray-green cloaks."
AD&D 1e Monster Manual
"When in natural surroundings such as a wood or meadow, elves can move silently (surprise on a 1-4) and blend into the vegetation so as to be invisible (requiring the ability to see invisible objects to locate them) as long as they are not attacking."
Their gray-green cloaks are mentioned in the description paragraph, but not linked to their hiding ability.
AD&D 1e Players Handbook
"If alone and not in metal armor (or if well in advance - 90' or more - of a party which does not consist entirely of elves and/or halflings) an elven character moves so silently that he or she will surprise monsters 66-2/3% of the time."
I also had a look in the 1e DMG, but wasn't able to find anything. There could be relevant information tucked away in that august tome, but if there is it escaped me. I don't really care to look ahead further than that; I prefer to stick to Gygax when seeking these kinds of clarifications.
There's an obvious trend above. The ability starts as invisibility, shifting to silent movement and near-invisibility in OD&D. This is restricted to natural surroundings in the Monster Manual. By the time we get to the Players Handbook, there's no ability to turn invisible; elven stealth is entirely attributed to silent movement. What started as something seemingly magical has gradually become more mundane.
Notably, only one source - OD&D Vol. 2 - links elven stealth to their cloaks.
Cloak and Boots of Elvenkind
Let's take a look at how elven cloaks and elven boots work in OD&D and AD&D.
OD&D: "Wearing the Cloak makes a person next to invisible while the Boots allow for totally silent movement." So it appears these items exactly duplicate the stealth abilities of elves. It's entirely plausible that every elf is wearing a set of these.
AD&D: These items are separated in this edition. The cloak of elvenkind has chameleon-like powers, granting the wearer near-invisibility, with different percentages based on the type of terrain. The boots of elvenkind allow silent movement, with a 95% chance in the worst conditions and 100% in the best.
So in OD&D these items are useless for elves, duplicating their powers exactly. In AD&D, the stealth abilities of the cloak and boots seem like they should be better than those of an elf, but that really depends on the link between moving silently, being invisible, and surprise. This link is never explicitly spelled out in AD&D, at least to my knowledge.
The Decision
I wasn't expecting the evidence to weigh so highly against the prevalence of elven cloaks and boots. But it's hard to deny that, if Gary intended for OD&D elves to be wearing them, he quickly thought better of the idea. It makes sense; elven encounters would be numerous enough to ensure that every character would gain these items and abilities before too long. Like Gary, I'd prefer to restrict this kind of thing.
The text is even worded in such a way as to support this: "Elves are nearly invisible in their gray-green cloaks." See, it says invisible in their gray-green cloaks, not because of them. I'll split those hairs if I must.
So no, no elven cloaks and boots for every elf. Which is a shame, because a reading of Tolkien would support the other argument. I'm also a little unsatisfied that the cloak and boots in OD&D are useless for elven PCs. But I guess in D&D they're a different thing, with magic intended to grant non-elves the stealth of elvenkind. That's a cool enough ability in its own right.
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