The white elephant gift exchange is a party game in which fun and impractical gifts are exchanged during the celebration. The purpose of the white elephant gift exchange is to entertain the party guests not to obtain a truly valuable or highly sought-after item.
The term white elephant refers to an extravagant and impractical gift that cannot be easily disposed of. The term is thought to have originated from the historical practice of the King of Siam (now Thailand) giving rare albino elephants to his unwanted courtiers to break them because of the expense of keeping the animals. Although the first use of the term remains a subject of debate among historians one theory suggests that Ezra Cornell introduced the term into the popular lexicon through his frequent social gatherings as early as 1828.
Each participant brings a wrapped gift usually of equal value. The gifts are arranged in the center and the participants determine the order in which they will take turns choosing them. The first person opens the wrapped gift and the turn ends[3] On subsequent turns each participant has a choice: either unwrap a new gift or steal someone else s. When a person s gift is stolen he or she can choose another wrapped gift to open or steal it from another player. To avoid infinite circles each gift can only be stolen twice per game. The game ends when everyone has a gift. The first player can also steal a gift at the end of the game at will.
In the white elephant gift exchange everything depends on the luck of the draw (and theft). If you want to win over friends family and co-workers or at least make everyone laugh at this year s vacation party show up with one of these white elephant gifts. Since this annual gift exchange can be approached in many different ways we ve put together a list of white elephant gift ideas that include hilarious gifts useful household finds and office gifts that will cause an all-out war of theft. But really the stranger (okay more unique) the gift the more fun the party will be. In that case make the most of it by ordering one of these weird and wonderful gifts that cost less than $30 (many are $10 to $20 if you re on a tight budget).
While you re at it think about the other gift exchanges - Secret Santa Dirty Santa etc. - that you have planned for this holiday season because you re sure to find some ideas on this list that everyone will love. Suffice it to say.
On a side note some items may ship later this year due to the pandemic. You can check here for all the shipping deadlines to get your item delivered in time for the vacations.