A gift exchange from The Office television show.
The term “white elephant” in “white elephant gift exchange” probably came from the tradition of the King of Siam (present-day Thailand) giving rare albino (white) elephants to anyone that displeased him. The idea was that the cost and time to take care of an elephant would ruin the life of the person receiving it. The white elephant was a sacred symbol in Siam, so letting it go or giving it away wasn’t usually a realistic option. While this explanation is believed by many to be the origin of the term, some doubt its authenticity.
If you are unfamiliar with a white elephant gift exchange (aka Dirty Santa and Yankee Swap), it’s when a group of people gets together and exchange gag/funny/impractical gifts. Over many rounds, people give and “steal” gifts from each other, until the last remaining gift lands on a final owner. There are tons of variations to this game, but you get the idea.
While there is some disagreement when the term was first used, one theory suggests that Ezra Cornell brought the term into mainstream culture in as early as 1828.
INTERESTING FACTS
- Santa has a real zip code in Canada. It’s H0H H0H and every letter is responded to.
- Many zoos will gladly accept your used Christmas tree to feed to its animals.
- “Jingle Bells” was originally written for Thanksgiving.
- It’s a tradition to eat at KFC in Japan at Christmas.
- If you gave all the gifts from the “Twelve Days of Christmas” song to someone, you would have given 364 gifts.
INTERESTING VIDEO
INTERESTING REFERENCES
- RD.com – What Is a White Elephant Gift Exchange?
- Wikipedia.org – White Elephant Gift Exchange
- TheFactFile.org – 99 Interesting Facts About Christmas
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