Why is it called a Yankee swap?

A more heart-warming origin claim is that Americans – once called “Yankees” by immigrants in New York City – would give each other trivial gifts in marketplaces. It was, quite literally, “Yankees Swapping gifts.” Today, Yankee Swap is practiced across the globe – reaching far beyond the Big Apple.

What is a Yankee Swap?

A Yankee Swap—also known as White Elephant—is a gift exchange game whereby participants get to open a present, then choose whether they wish to keep it or swap for someone else's gift. The process is made even more interesting by the presence of unconventional or silly gifts in the mix.

What is the difference between white elephant and Yankee Swap?

White Elephant is a gift exchange game that is very similar in style to Yankee Swap, although the emphasis is to “steal” gifts rather than swap them.

Who invented Yankee Swap?

The origin of the name seems to date back to the 19th century. In the preface to his 1855 poetry collection, Leaves of Grass, Walt Whitman included “the Yankee swap” in a list of quintessentially American things.

What is the difference between Secret Santa and Yankee Swap?

White elephant gift exchanges, also known as Yankee swaps or, somewhat creepily, “dirty Santa” games, are a fun alternative to the old office staple “secret Santa.” Like secret Santa, everyone brings one gift and takes one home. But a Yankee swap adds the opportunity for fun, intrigue and cutthroat competition.

Yankee Swap - The Office US

How much do you spend on Yankee Swap?

Typically, it's around $20—enough to get something reasonable without having to seriously hurt anyone's wallet. Participants should then shop for their gifts and bring them to the Yankee Swap wrapped and ready to go.

Are Dirty Santa and White Elephant the same thing?

A White Elephant Gift Exchange is a popular Christmas event where people vie to walk away with the best present. It also goes by Yankee Swap, Dirty Santa, and a plethora of other names.

What is an elephant exchange?

A white elephant gift exchange, Yankee swap or Dirty Santa is a party game where amusing and impractical gifts are exchanged during festivities. The goal of a white elephant gift exchange is to entertain party-goers rather than to gain a genuinely valuable or highly sought-after item.

Why is it called a white elephant sale?

The term "white elephant" refers to an extravagant but burdensome gift that cannot be easily disposed of, based on the legend of the King of Siam giving rare albino elephants to courtiers who had displeased him, that they might be ruined by the animals' upkeep costs.

What are the basic rules of Yankee Swap?

Everyone gets a randomly drawn number. The person with the lowest number goes first. The first person chooses a gift from the gift pile, opens the gift for all to see, and keeps it for the time being. person's gift is swapped, that person can immediately unwrap a new gift or swap it with another person's gift.

What is a Kris Kringle gift exchange?

A group of people choose each others names randomly without telling who they got. Each person buys the person they picked a gift, and likewise the person who picked their name buys them a gift. The gifts are exchanged on an agreed upon date for the whole group, and everyone's Secret Santa / Kris Kringle is revealed.

What are names for Yankee Swap?

A White Elephant gift exchange is also known as a Yankee swap or a Dirty Santa gift exchange. It's a party game where amusing and impractical gifts are exchanged. The goal of a White Elephant gift exchange is to entertain participants rather than to gain something valuable or highly sought-after.

What is a Chinese gift swap?

It is a game where each person brings a wrapped gift and places it in the middle of the room. The first person then chooses a gift and unwraps it. The next person can either choose a new gift or steal the first person's gift. This continues until everyone has had a chance to choose or steal a gift.

How do you conduct a Yankee Swap?

The basic rules of Yankee Swap begin just like White Elephant: Everyone is assigned a number at random, then the first player chooses a gift and opens it. The next player chooses their gift, then either opens it or swaps it for a previous player's unwrapped gift.

How many people do you need for a Yankee Swap?

Yankee Swap Official Rules – The most popular version of the Yankee Swap Rules or White Elephant Gift Exchange Rules say any number of people may participate, including children. However, the minimum number of participants should be at least four or else the game is not much fun.

Do you wrap gifts for a Yankee Swap?

In Yankee Swap each participant brings a wrapped, unmarked gift and places it in a designated area. Guests are given numbers as they arrive, or their names are randomly drawn, and they select and unwrap gifts from the pile in that order — with a twist.

How much should you spend on a white elephant gift?

An office white elephant gift exchange should have a price target of around $10, according to White Elephant Rules. There may be people who don't want to participate and may have hurt feelings walking away with an undesirable gift. This is why it's best to keep the target low to head off any negativity.

Do you open gifts during white elephant?

White elephant is a gift exchange, so each person must bring one wrapped present to the Christmas party. Once everyone is assembled, have each person draw a number. The person with number "one" chooses a present to unwrap.

What is white elephants a metaphor for?

Today, the term 'white elephant' denotes any burdensome, expensive and useless possession that is much more trouble than it is worth. The origins of the phrase come from Siam (modern-day Thailand).

What is a pink elephant gift?

Some people use “pink elephant” to refer to a variant game where the gifts are more desirable and/or useful than typical “white elephant” gifts.

What happens if an elephant charges at you?

If an elephant does attack-charge you, it will use its tusks to gore you, throw you and crush you. It will often keep stomping until you're dead. Since elephants can plow down trees, flip cars, and run up to 40km an hour, you have little chance of outrunning them.

How do you play stealing Santa?

Guests take turns to choose one to unwrap. Or they can choose to “steal” a gift already opened by someone else. The person losing their gift then gets the same choice: open a wrapped present or steal someone else's. It's a good alternative to buying a gift for everyone, and a great way to ruin friendships.

What is the politically correct name for Secret Santa?

"secret friend" is simple, non-religious, and fits the bill. Save this answer.

Is Pollyanna the same as Secret Santa?

Pollyanna, also known as “Secret Santa” is a Western Christmas tradition. In which groups, or community are randomly assigned a person they will give a gift to on Christmas. The identify of the gift giver is a secret not to be revealed.

What is the Secret Santa rule?

Members of a group of friends, family, or coworkers draw random names to become someone's Secret Santa. The Secret Santa is given a wish list of gift ideas to choose from to give to their chosen giftee. After opening their present, the giftee has to guess which member of the group was their Secret Santa.