Christmas Party and White Elephant Gift Exhange
Posted by Jack Meyers
The Annual Christmas Party and White Elephant Gift Exhange will be topside at Maxime's at Noon on Wednesday, December 20th. Maxine's is providing a choice of two entrees. All members and guests are encourged to bring a gift and participate in the gift exchange...it's a real hoot!
The White Elephant Gift Exchange
Below are the rules of play and suggestions on gifts.
Origin of the White Elephant Gift Exchange
The origin of the term is unclear. One possibility is that it originated when the King of France, in observance of a tradition of lavish gift-giving, unloaded a rather inconvenient, ailing pet (a white elephant) on the King of England. Another possibility is that it originated in Thailand, where elephants are highly revered and white elephants are virtually sacred, the King of Thailand had the right to take any white elephant from anyone and replace it with a gray elephant. The dilemma this gift imposed is that the recipient had to fulfill tradition and honor the gift (keeping it alive) despite the tremendous inconvenience and expense it caused. Therefore, a traditional white elephant gift exchange involves ridiculous, often inconvenient gifts that nobody really wants.
How to Play
Everyone should bring one gift. The gift should not be an expensive gift, and usually the best gifts are something that you have lying around the house that you don't really want anymore, but that could be useful to others. Wrap it up in whatever way you would like (The Barometer seems to be a popular wrap). Everyone should bring one gift. To start off the game everyone draws a numbered piece of paper from a hat, numbered the same number as their are people playing the game. The person who has drawn number one then goes first, picking any gift off of the table and opening it for everyone to see. Then number two goes. Number two (as well as everyone after) can either pick a new gift, or steal number 1's gift. Then number 3 will take their turn.
If a gift is stolen, the person it was stolen from has the option of either picking a new unwrapped gift from the table, or stealing another player's unwrapped gift. The only rule to this is that the person who originally had the gift stolen cannot steal it back, he must pick a new gift or steal someone else's gift. Also, once a gift has gone through three people, it stays permanantly with the third person, in other words, a gift may only be stolen two times.
The Gifts
1. The gift should not be an expensive gift. The value if you choose to buy something new should stay less than $1000.00
2. The gift needs to be wrapped. (The Barometer is always a popular gift wrap choice.
3. The gift does not need to be new. The best gifts are usually things you no longer want that could be useful to other people. The weirder, the better.
Below are the rules of play and suggestions on gifts.
Origin of the White Elephant Gift Exchange
The origin of the term is unclear. One possibility is that it originated when the King of France, in observance of a tradition of lavish gift-giving, unloaded a rather inconvenient, ailing pet (a white elephant) on the King of England. Another possibility is that it originated in Thailand, where elephants are highly revered and white elephants are virtually sacred, the King of Thailand had the right to take any white elephant from anyone and replace it with a gray elephant. The dilemma this gift imposed is that the recipient had to fulfill tradition and honor the gift (keeping it alive) despite the tremendous inconvenience and expense it caused. Therefore, a traditional white elephant gift exchange involves ridiculous, often inconvenient gifts that nobody really wants.
How to Play
Everyone should bring one gift. The gift should not be an expensive gift, and usually the best gifts are something that you have lying around the house that you don't really want anymore, but that could be useful to others. Wrap it up in whatever way you would like (The Barometer seems to be a popular wrap). Everyone should bring one gift. To start off the game everyone draws a numbered piece of paper from a hat, numbered the same number as their are people playing the game. The person who has drawn number one then goes first, picking any gift off of the table and opening it for everyone to see. Then number two goes. Number two (as well as everyone after) can either pick a new gift, or steal number 1's gift. Then number 3 will take their turn.
If a gift is stolen, the person it was stolen from has the option of either picking a new unwrapped gift from the table, or stealing another player's unwrapped gift. The only rule to this is that the person who originally had the gift stolen cannot steal it back, he must pick a new gift or steal someone else's gift. Also, once a gift has gone through three people, it stays permanantly with the third person, in other words, a gift may only be stolen two times.
The Gifts
1. The gift should not be an expensive gift. The value if you choose to buy something new should stay less than $1000.00
2. The gift needs to be wrapped. (The Barometer is always a popular gift wrap choice.
3. The gift does not need to be new. The best gifts are usually things you no longer want that could be useful to other people. The weirder, the better.