Posted by Shelley on December 03, 2001 at 12:34:50:

In Reply to: Christmas Party posted by Barb on November 27, 2001 at 07:25:54:

This is the most fun and can last for hours:
white elephant--n. american slang. something unwanted

During the 1920s and '30s, it was a fad to throw these Christmas parties with a peculiar twist: there would be a gift exchange of sorts, but instead of thoughtful, purchased items, guests were to wrap up things that they had lying around the house or had no particular use for. Presents would be exchanged and guests were either better or worse off than before with their 'new' item. If they weren't pleased, well...there was always next year.

copyright '00 cs.

Nothing can make friends turn on each other at the height of the Christmas season like a white elephant gift exchange where folks shamelessly steal each others' prized gifts.
We each bring a gift, something we already have or some silly cheap gag gift that costs less than $10.00.Your gift could be a kid’s toy or something that brings out the 10-year-old in you.We then exchange these gifts, and if you want to trade them with someone else once they are opened, well that’s fine too.
(this can go on for up to 3 turns, otherwise it could theoretically go on forever). As you can imagine, this leads to some creative gift choosing and wrapping, not to mention the "team-stealing" that goes on when there is a particulary choice gift. The one with lowest number selects a package and opens it. The one with the next number selects a package or "steals" a previously opened gift. When a gift is lost from stealing, another gift is opened or a different gift is stolen.
Some examples:
The evening culminated with a "White Elephant Gift" exchange that included key items such as reindeer antlers, a Yomega yo-yo, ho-ho-ho TP, and vintage freeze-dried applesauce, funny shaped mugs, football shaped pasta, a red elephant, drafting pens, skeleton keys, carved Christmas tree, popcorn, broken harddrives, earplugs, old banners, old radios, art, books like "dont squat with yer spers on", Hawaiin shirt, wind chimes, toy phones, wooden golf clubs, miniature statues, duraflame logs, old easter baskets, storm lantern, t-shirts, wine, road atlas,

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