In New England , it ’s often call a " Yankee Swap . " In the South , it ’s " unsporting Santa . " But across most of North America , the party game where participant merchandise ( and steal ) presents is make out as a white elephant endowment exchange .
The termwhite elephanthas been used since at least the 1800s to pertain to a less - than - suitable gift . “ According to fable , the tradition of white elephant talent began long ago when the King of Siam — now Thailand — founder an actual white elephant to anyone he dislike , ” Evan Mendelsohn , co - founder of holiday wearing apparel companyTipsy Elves , tell apart Mental Floss . “ These rarefied elephants were quite expensive to care for . The clean elephant was also a respected symbol in Thai and Buddhist cultures , so you could n’t get away with regifting it or putting it to work . ”
According to an 1873articlefromThe New York Times , the whitened elephant — impossible to get rid of , but too expensive to exert — would be an tremendous financial incumbrance , impoverish the recipient role .
But the legend has no basis in fact , writes Ross Bullen , a prof of liberal arts at Toronto ’s OCAD University [ PDF ] . He quotes the Thai historianRita Ringis : “ [ N]o Siamese monarch butterfly ever count white elephant ‘ taxing ’ nor cave in them away . " In Buddhistic custom , white elephant were asignof status and good luck .
The notion of “ swap parties ” start picking up steam around 1901 , when Kentucky’sHartford Heraldpublished anarticledescribing a talent substitution with “ four or five piffling big money , enwrap so that no one else can surmise the contentedness . ” Earlydescriptionsof trade parties recommended that player bring the most preposterous gifts potential , finishing the game by pass out prizes for “ good bargain ” and “ worst deal ” ( the recipient of the worst endowment would be required to narrate a story , spill the beans a call , or otherwise entertain the group ) .
The termwhite elephant partyfirst appeared in a joke publish in 1907 in Nebraska’sThe Columbus Journal , according tobloggerPeter Jensen Brown . “ A scandalous affair happen in one of our nearby towns , ” the jokebegins . “ One of the popular bon ton women denote a ‘ white elephant party . ’ Every guest was to bring something she could not detect any use for and yet too good to throw away … Nine out of the 11 charwoman invited institute their husbands . ”
Thewhite elephantjoke was by and by published in newspapers all across the United States — the 1907 equivalent of get going viral . In 1908 , society pages in paper start publishing bill for actual white elephant parties , where attender were encouraged to make gifts of object they wanted to get free of .
White elephant giving exchanges have remained relatively unchanged since then , although linguistic rule dissent from place to place . Want to host your own whitened elephant party ? Find therulesat the prescribed blanched elephant website , and check out ourlistof fun gift ideas .
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