WHAT IS A “WHITE ELEPHANT”?

A "white elephant" is any gift that is of little or no practical use that also imposes a burden on the person who receives it. The phrase "white elephant" comes from a Burmese tradition where an albino elephant was given as a gift. Because it was considered sacred, the recipient could never get rid of it even if the financial burden of caring for it drove them into bankruptcy. Giving someone enough white elephants could destroy them.

Well, our white elephant gifts will be the most popular gifts in the exchange. Whether you choose an Avenging Unicorn or a parachuting Stunt Monkey, it will be more desired than the giant fern from Bob in accounting.

While there are many different variations on the white elephant, the directions below are the ones followed by the Archie McPhee staff during their gift exchanges.

RULES FOR WHITE ELEPHANT EXCHANGE

1. Set a value for the gifts. It is more fun if the value is less than $20. Some people will ignore this and spend a lot more money hoping to impress everyone with their gift. It won't work. Gather these gifts together in a big pile.

2. Count how many people are in your exchange and write numbers from one to your total on slips of paper. Toss them in sack and shake them up to randomize them. Have all the players draw numbers and then form a circle around the packages in numerical order.

3. In order, each person should walk forward and choose a gift which they then open and show to the whole group.

4. When all gifts are open, the exchange begins. In numerical order, each person will get to exchange their gift for any other gift. They do not have to exchange if they like what they have. If they do choose to exchange, this allows the person they just exchanged with to switch with someone else. This series of exchanges goes on for 30 seconds. Whatever people are holding at the end of the 30 seconds is the gift they have going into the next turn.

5. Hiding your gift or in any way stopping someone from taking it is cheating and everyone who does it is a dirty rotten cheater who should be banned from the game next year.

6. After the highest number goes, whatever gift everyone has is the gift they get in the exchange. This usually result in one happy person and lots of disgruntled people. The perfect way to celebrate Christmas!