The best white elephant gifts that everyone will love

Whether or not you’ve heard of a white elephant gift exchange before, there’s a good chance you have the wrong idea of what it is, how it actually works and where the idea came from. According to legend, the King of Siam would give a white elephant to courtiers who had upset them. It was a far more devious punishment than simply having them executed. The recipient had no choice but to simply thank the king for such an opulent gift, knowing that they likely could not afford the upkeep for such an animal. It would inevitably lead them to financial ruin.

This story is almost certainly untrue, but it has led to a modern holiday staple: the white elephant gift exchange. Picking the right white elephant gift means walking a fine line: the goal isn’t to just buy something terrible and force someone to take it home with them. Rather, it should be just useful or amusing enough that it won’t immediately get tossed into the trash. The recipient also shouldn’t be able to just throw it in a junk drawer and forget about it. So here are a few suggestions that will not only get you a few chuckles, but will also make the recipient feel (slightly) burdened.

White elephant FAQs

What is white elephant?

A white elephant gift exchange is a party game typically played around the holidays in which people exchange funny, impractical gifts.

How does white elephant work?

A group of people each bring one wrapped gift to the white elephant gift exchange, and each gift is typically of a similar value. All gifts are then placed together and the group decides the order in which they will each claim a gift. The first person picks a white elephant gift from the pile, unwraps it and their turn ends. The following players can either decide to unwrap another gift and claim it as their own, or steal a gift from someone who has already taken a turn. The rules can vary from there, including the guidelines around how often a single item can be stolen — some say twice, max. The game ends when every person has a white elephant gift.

Why is it called white elephant?

The term “white elephant” is said to come from the legend of the King of Siam gifting white elephants to courtiers who upset him. While it seems like a lavish gift on its face, the belief is that the courtiers would be ruined by the animal’s upkeep costs.

Check out the rest of our gift ideas here.

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