My spoils of this year's "Secret Santa" was a bottle of Graceland Cellars' 2003 Blue Christmas Cabernet Sauvignon. Our holiday party at the Pyramid Alehouse included a game of Secret Santa (aka White Elephant) where everyone brought a gift valued at $10 and everyone drew numbers to see in what order they'd go up and grab a gift. The catch was, when your turn came up you could either open a gift from the table or steal someone else's gift. Gifts could only be stolen a total of two times (or else the best gift would just be stolen over and over) and only once per turn. HUH? Wha? We may have just made this up as we went along.
I drew a crappy number --36. There were only like 41 numbers. So I had to sit there and watch all the good gift cards, toys, and prank gifts get traded and then become "off limits" after being stolen twice. Liquor was also a very heavily traded item -- luckily when I got up there the Elvis wine had only been stolen once, so I took it and it was mine for good. Anyway I wondered who brought this, and it turned out it was a "re-gift," someone's wife got it at a company Xmas party, but didn't want it, so that's how it ended up at our party. I'm really offended that someone wouldn't want a wine label featuring The King on it.
But after a little online research, I discovered that these things retail at about $20 a bottle and that there are a limited number of this bad boy. I'm never going to open this. That way thirty years from now, when I'm all rich and have a wine cellar, my most prized possession will be a 30-year-old bottle of Elvis wine.
"It really is the best season of the year. The Christmas carols, trees and lights just grab you. There's something about Christmas and being home that I just can't explain. Maybe it's being with the family and with friends, time to read and to study. And of course, there are the snowball fights and sleigh rides and, yes...just home." —Elvis Presley, 1966 (printed on the back label)
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Okay, does anyone know why that silly game is called "White Elephant?" What's the significance of the elephant, and why is it white? This is not a joke. I really don't know why it's called that.
One man's trash......
well, the greeks used to refer to it as Whitus Elephantis and the custom was derived from the tradtional ceremony of stealing ones shoes. It was latter brought to this country by the Chinese during the Civil War, who fought alongside the Yankees to win the 1949 World Series. AND THATS why they call it White Elephant.
Hunh. Whaddaya know...
"This expression comes from a legendary former Siamese custom whereby an albino elephant, considered sacred, could only be owned by the king. The king would bestow such an animal on a subject with whom he was displeased and wait until the high cost of feeding the animal (which could not be slaughtered) ruined the owner. The story was told in England in the 1600s, and in the 1800s the term began to be used figuratively."
geez...talk about making up a story..
So, this whole White Elephant game is actually a ruse meant to destroy your coworkers? Hmmm...maybe I should've participated after all...
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