34 | DECEMBER 19 • 2019

gift guide 2019

H

oliday party invitations seem
to arrive daily and many
include two dreaded words:
gift exchange.
White elephant gift exchange, usu-
ally in the form of a game, are pop-
ular in offices, organizations, friend-
ship groups and even large families.
What is a white elephant? Basically,
it’
s something you have on hand that
you don’
t want, but which would
make a good gift for someone else.
White elephant exchanges are a great
way to get rid of nice gifts from

well-meaning friends and family that
you just can’
t use.
The term “white elephant” origi-
nally meant a burdensome possession
that is more trouble than it is worth.
The term came from a custom in
ancient Thailand. If someone ran
afoul of the king, he would give the
offender a rare white (albino) ele-
phant, considered holy. The recipient
could be bankrupted by the animal’
s
expensive upkeep.
In the mid-20th century,
“white elephant sales” were
a common feature at syn-
agogue, church and school
bazaars. It’
s hard to determine
when white elephant exchanges
became popular, though some organi-
zations, including the Detroit branch
of Ameinu, have been hosting gift
swaps at Chanukah for decades.
Today, most white elephant gift
exchanges involve some variation of a
game in which participants who don’
t
like the gift they receive can “steal”
one they like more from another par-
ticipant. Really good gifts are likely
to be stolen several times during the
game.

The game usually goes like this:
• Everyone at the party brings a
beautifully wrapped holiday gift
that fits the dollar amount the host
announces ahead of time. The gifts
are placed in a central pile.
• Participants pick numbered slips of
paper and the person holding the
number 1 chooses a gift, unwraps it
and shows it to everyone. The guest
holding number 2 goes next and, if
he or she likes the first gift better,
can “steal” it from the previous
player. Then that player chooses
another gift from the pile.
• Each subsequent player in numer-
ical order chooses a gift and, after
unwrapping it, decides whether to
keep it or “steal” another already-
opened gift. Those with higher
numbers have more options of gifts
to steal.
• Because the first player doesn’
t have
the “steal” option, many groups
decide to let that person steal from
any of the other players at the end
of the game.
In large groups, additional rules
help keep things moving; for example,
deciding that no gift can be “stolen”

White elephant gift exchanges are fun and unpredictable.

What’s
Inside?

BARBARA LEWIS CONTRIBUTING WRITER

way to get rid of nice gifts from

a

baz

when w

became p
zations, i
of Amein
swaps at

Today,

exchange
game in w
like the g
one they
ticipant.
to be stol
game.

continued on page 36

Thailand’
s ancient
kings would punish a
subject by gifting a holy
white elephant, whose
upkeep could bankrupt
the recipient.