The top White Elephant Gift Exchange game names…

There is a debate as to what is the most popular multi-player holiday game. Many suggest that the White Elephant gift exchange is the title of the most popular game. Others say that it is the Secret Santa gift exchange.  Then there are the many other gift parties that do variations of the gift swap activity and they each have a name and a following of loyal players.

Because we sponsor an online version of the traditional white elephant gift party, we have decided to do some research and get to the bottom of this once and for all.  Our recreation specialists were tasked to discover and list each of the gift exchange game titles, using the internet.   Then we asked the research department to find a way to find a winner and rank the popularity of the different gift parties.

What we found is that there is a bunch of ways that people describe the gift exchange activity and yet many of the rules are the same. We will catalog the rules for you here on this website as we do more research.

Here is our listing:
Yankee Swap
Scottish Gift Exchange
Chinese Gift Exchange
Chinese Christmas
Chinese Auction
Thieving Elves
Dirty Santa
Dirty Secret Santa
Thieving Secret Santa
The Present Game
Rob Your Neighbor
Dirty Christmas
Pollyanna Swap
Cajun Christmas
Devil’s Santa
Backward Auction
California Swap
Steal-a-Thon
Snatchy Christmas Rat
Gift Grab
Cutthroat Christmas
Nasty Christmas
Parcel Pass
Redneck Santa
White Elephant Gift Exchange
Rob a Santa
Grinch Exchange
Left Right Exchange
Scotch Auction
The Grinch Game
Eskimo bingo

NOTE:  If you know of other names, please add them in the comment box at the bottom of this page and we will add them to our listing and do the ranking.

After we had the list of White Elephant exchange party titles, we assigned the research staff to find a way to rank the names on a list, from most played to the least played…

That left them scratching their heads….  The problem is that these are played in homes, churches and offices everywhere, and so who do you, ask?

They used Google!

They used a Google Keyword Research Tool to discover how many people made a search for each of these titles within the last 12-months.  The idea is that if people are searching for the word, they must be searching for the party, right?  Well, right or wrong it is how we have ranked these gift exchange parties. We recorded the Global Average Monthly Search results for each of the gift exchange titles and got a ranking.

Google keyword ranking for white elephant parties

So here are the results of this highly scientific study of the most comprehensive list of White Elephant Gift Exchange game names…

NOTE: Some search results had less than 20 and did not record on the Google tool.

Secret Santa = 135,000 per month average searches
White Elephant Gift Exchange = 18,100
Yankee Swap = 9,900 (Popular in the NE)
Parcel Pass = 9,900 (Popular in England)
Chinese Auction Game = 9,900
The Grinch Game = 2,900
Chinese Gift Exchange = 2,900
Pass the Present = 1,600
Left Right Gift Exchange = 1,300
Dirty Santa game = 880
Nasty Christmas = 720
Rob Your Neighbor = 320
Chinese Christmas Game = 320
Redneck Santa = 320
Pollyanna Gift Exchange = 320
Dirty Christmas Game = 140
Gift Grab Game = 110
Dirty Secret Santa = 91
Grinch Exchange = 73
Thieving Secret Santa = 58
Thieving Elves = 46
Eskimo bingo = 46
Pirate Gift Exchange = 28
Backward Auction = 22
Scottish Gift Exchange = Did not record
Cajun Christmas Swap = Did not record
Devil’s Santa = Did not record
California Gift Swap = Did not record
Steal-a-Thon Game = Did not record
Cutthroat Christmas = Did not record
Rob a Santa Game = Did not record
Scotch Auction game = Did not record
Snatchy Christmas Rat = Did not record

The winner is Secret Santa with 135,000 average monthly searches, with the White Elephant Gift Exchange coming in second at 18,100 searches..  To be completely accurate, the Secret Santa activity is not really a game, but an activity mostly used to share gifts with individuals in a larger group.  Many of the others on these lists involve a gift exchanging party game. It should also be noted that the Chinese Auction Game is usually used as a fund-raising event for charities, but it did get 9,900 average searches in our study.  The Parcel Pass game is very popular in England and the Yankee Swap is a very well known replacement for the white elephant gift party in the Northeastern US..

We hope that this exercise in gift exchange party research will be helpful as you attempt to find great ways to share gifts with family and friends.  We think that you should try some of these out and then let us know how they went. We would also invite you to try out an Online White Elephant Party call AlbinoPhant. Our family has played this gift exchange party for several years and it perfect for groups that live too far apart to gather in one place, so they gather on the internet and share gifts and fun.

Our recreation experts have begun the process of compiling all of the rules, ideas and suggestions for each of these gift parties you see on this list. We will catalog them HERE as we get them organized, so you are welcome to return often and find out more about the white elephant gift exchange and its many fun cousins….

If you would like some other information on these titles we have linked to sites that are sharing more details.

Just click on the title.
Yankee Swap:
Scottish Gift Exchange:
Chinese Gift Exchange:
Chinese Christmas:
Chinese Auction:
Thieving Elves
Dirty Santa:
Dirty Secret Santa:
Thieving Secret Santa:
The Present Game:
Rob Your Neighbor:
Dirty Christmas
Pollyanna Swap:
Cajun Christmas:
Backward Auction
Snatchy Christmas Rat:
California Swap
Steal-a-Thon
Gift Grab:
Cutthroat Christmas:
Nasty Christmas
Parcel Pass:
Redneck Santa
White Elephant Gift Exchange
Rob a Santa
Grinch Exchange:

Left Right Exchange:

Scotch Auction

The Grinch Game
Devil’s Santa:
Eskimo bingo:

Do you know of any other variations?  Please leave us a comment and share your ideas…

Your host has used a special offer code (1234) to begin a “test-drive” party that allows you to experience a gift exchange without spending any money…

Like a real test drive!

Here are the step by step instructions on how to get the invitation, RSVP, find a gift (virtually), get it wrapped and then join the party.

It is really easy, once you have done it one time!

Step #1 (these screen shots seem to display better in Firefox than on Explorer browsers, sorry)

Step #2

Step #3

Step #4

Step #5

Step 6

Step 7

Step 8

Step 9

Final Step: HAVE A GREAT TIME.. You are going to love this party!

The white elephant party is called AlbinoPhant, and the Christensen’s have been testing this online game with their grown children for the past 3-years.

“When our youngest got married and left the nest, we started sharing our gifts through playing this game, and we loved the party atmosphere and fun conversations this allowed us” stated Sarah, the mother of five and grand mother of seven.

The AlbinoPhant party is a mimic of the traditional White Elephant gift swaps that are common among social groups during the holidays. The Facebook game provides real shopping markets from Amazon for selecting and purchasing a gift for the event. Players virtually wrap the image of the selected gift and then the party is ready to start.

“The game is just like the real party in many ways. The gifts are opened on the web page, there is gift stealing among the players and all the fun conversation that a group shares in a standard party”, explained Bruce Christensen.

Like a regular gift exchange, the AlbinoPhant party selects players at random to open gifts and then displays them on a common playing page. There is a comment box which allows players to share banter and poke fun at each other during the activity. There is the option to add YouTube videos and other images into the conversation. All of this is accessed by individuals as they play on their computers, from anywhere in the country.

Sarah continued, “Our family is scattered from New Hampshire to California, so this online party saves all of us the travel cost to attend family events, while still allowing real fun and personal connection with each other”.

The AlbinoPhant party is a Facebook application and takes full advantage of the social networking tools available. The host uses Facebook’s network to send the invitations and then the Facebook sharing system allows party conversations to spill out onto the web.

“We built the application to be as close to the traditional party as possible, so that families and friends would feel comfortable with the game. We use trusted brands, like Amazon and PayPal, and when the party is completed gifts are delivered using standard shipping companies”, added Bruce

This online party is a real gift exchange, so players use ecommerce to purchase the presents for the party. Then after the party is finished, these real gifts are sent out to each player’s doorstep. This party breaks new ground for Facebook, where virtual gifts have been the norm, and adds a new partnership between online retailers and social networks.
AlbinoPhant is now available thru the internet for family and friends to share gifts, steal gifts and banter together just like they have done for years, and McMinnville is this white elephant’s delivery room.

The Facebook application link is: http://apps.facebook.com/albinophant/

This Facebook application allows family and friends the opportunity to party together in a virtual gift exchange, just like they would if gathered together in one location. They exchange real gifts, share friendly banter and enjoy the holiday spirit, through the online party.

Gift exchange parties are social events that focus on sharing gifts with family and friends and then “stealing” gifts from one another in an organized party game.

www.albinophant.com brings people together to participate in the party on a common game-play page, where wrapped gifts are displayed, opened, stolen and where comments are shared. This application facilitates gift giving among those who would be sharing gifts with each other anyway. AlbinoPhant just provides a fun, conversational and social way to pass out the gifts.

Traditional white elephant parties build lively conversation and great stories around the gifts as they are opened. With the enhanced sharing tools on the web, the online version allows more expressive conversation than ever before. The AlbinoPhant comment stream allows party participants the opportunity to post YouTube videos and images to assist in making the exchange party a real fun game. There are even opportunities to share some of the conversation outside of the party in other social networks, allowing the party atmosphere to spill over in other corners of the web.

The online white elephant party uses a combination of eCommerce and social networking tools to build the party system. AlbinoPhant is a gift purchasing and sharing facilitator, displaying hundreds of Amazon items in level pricing markets for convenient shopping. The host and each party participant use these single pricing markets ($15 to $50) to select gifts for the party. This leveling feature is used to keep the gift spending closer to equal among all of the players, reducing the “big-spender/cheap-skate” issues.

When all of the gifts are virtually wrapped, opened, discussed, stolen and re-stolen, the game ends. The application’s management system then sorts out who gets which real gift and sees that each present is delivered to the correct address.

The online gift exchange is a labor of love by the Christensen family, who are new to Facebook application development. The Christensen’s have tested the online gift swap party with their scattered family members for several years. They hired a team of Facebook developers and other web professionals to take their simple family party exchange and turn it into a fully operational Facebook application. Now they are eager to share this fun exchange, AlbinoPhant, with others.

This holiday season the networks will play host to thousands of gift thieves and promote friendly banter to liven up holiday parties. What is more social than a lively party?

To see press release go to http://myprgenie.com/3333

Caroline, the author of Whipped, hosts a soup swap every year and,  in her own words describes: “…an event that embodied all of my favorite things: gathering with friends, eating together, talking about food and sharing food.”

This got us to thinking about how soup could be used as a part of a white elephant or Yankee Swap party. Here is an idea that we came up with… But you could expand this in many directions.

1. Develop an invitation list from those whom like to cook and those who like to visit.
2. Tell everyone that this is a themed gift exchange event around the word SOUP.
3. Ask everyone to bring a quart of their favorite soup for a group tasting.
4. Let everyone know that they don’t need to use soup as the gift, just have the gifts be soup related.  This is where the creativity of your friends will shine!
5. Ask all attendees to bring some 3-cup containers of soup for general swapping among the attendees. Have them include the recipe on a printed card.

Now you can fill the evening with several social experiences.. Soup tasting, a white elephant gift exchange and a swap of soups.

NOTE: Caroline added a few other helpful ideas for hosting a Soup Exchange, so you should read her tips section.

When it is all said and done, your holiday soup exchange will probably become a holiday favorite and warm the hearts of family and friends on even the coldest night.

A Christmas Party Doesn’t Have to be Expensive

By: Candace Martin

In these stretched economic times even festive celebrations are falling onto hard times. The past couple of Christmases have seen a bit of a downturn in the level that folks were willing to pay for gifts along with the celebration itself, and the upcoming season looks to be about the same. If you are affected by budget issues but need to prepare for a holiday celebration, you do not have to let those things impact the quality of the merrymaking. There are lots of ways to throw a good gathering with limited funds.

The number one thing to keep in mind is that seasonal events take place each year and pretty much everyone you are acquainted with participates in them. Basically everyone you are acquainted with is also accustomed to putting up decorations for them. This means that, once you choose a spot to hold your party, you can almost certainly decorate the whole thing at no cost. All you require is to acquire the contribution of a few of your guests. Ask them to give or loan their preferred ornaments, or even only those that they don’t use any more.

You can also decide to have your gathering at a restaurant or at a bar. Despite the fact that doing this nearer to Christmas is typically challenging as those venues will have restricted room and won’t very likely offer you the space free of charge, near the beginning of December you won’t have much trouble obtaining a location. As long as they are not busy those venues will in fact give you a reduced rate on meals in contrast to making you pay you for space! What’s more, bars and restaurants are bedecked for Christmas from early winter, which means you won’t need to worry about putting up decorations for yourself.

Food is an added concern you will likely be concerned about. Well, at locations such as those mentioned there’s not much flexibility on meals. If you host it at a home or a different place there are lots of alternatives available to you. The ideal thing to do for spending less on the food for your Christmas party, apart from making it a potluck, is to make as much of the food on your own as feasible. In this respect, choosing a dessert buffet in comparison with a complete meal is likely your best bet. And keep in mind, punch isn’t just the cheapest beverage you can provide, but it is in fact a drink that everyone expects to find at a seasonal party.

As for crafting the right atmosphere, you do not need to pay a lot of money. Christmas events can have live bands, DJs and other expensive musical alternatives. Producing a good Christmas ambiance, though, does not require all that flash. Even for sizeable events the most fundamental things are often the most enjoyed. Consider sing-a-longs and gift exchanges. For a gathering where the guest list is loaded with folks without a lot of spare cash, try out the idea of throwing a Dirty Santa type of gift exchange where individuals actually have to re-gift (ie: they have to give gifts that they have received themselves, but didn’t care for.)

The bottom line is to be imaginative and not to be concerned about asking for assistance. Don’t forget that the key consideration of any seasonal party is people, and as long as they are together they’ll accomplish nearly all of the tasks by themself. If you aren’t content with that though, then spend the week after Christmas shopping for all the holiday merchandise that are on sale so you can throw an all-out celebration next year.

Author Resource:-> Get shopping tips, find Christmas games and activities, and learn strategies to get you through the stressful holiday season at Christmas Ideas.

Article From ARTICLE GALLERY

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Gift exchange parties are full of hot air…

Especially parties that carry the Dirty Santa or Dirty Thieving Santa moniker.
You see, these are the gag-gift cousins of the tamer and more common White Elephant Exchange or Yankee Swap.

The “dirty” implication is associated with the “stealing” portion of these gift exchange events. Gifts are opened by random players and then subsequent players can swap or “steal” from those who have gone before.

The gifts that create the most banter are usually the weird gifts that can be associated with something funny. Gifts that can prompt a conversation will make the party more lively and will pull more guest into the fun.

Many Dirty Santa, Yankee Swap and White Elephant parties are hosted with a theme of some sort.  This way, the conversation can share a common subject line and sets the scene for creative conversation.

Lets assume that you have a fun group of friends and it is time to share gifts among them; It could be Christmas, Valentines Day or St. Patty’s day… Just pick an unusual theme and then let them shop creatively for gifts that would releate.

For example:  Choose the theme   “HOT AIR” and send out the party invitations…

We entered the AlbinoPhant Markets and found a few items that could be associated with HOT AIR…

As you can see, the shopping could be as fun as the actual game, with players planning their explanations as to how the gift  relates to HOT AIR.  Then, these explanations, during the game, will build the banter and the fun conversation into the party.  
It is the conversation, that is built around creative shopping, that makes the Dirty Santa and the White Elephant exchange social explosions.

Now, be creative and bold… Host a gift exchange party with a unique theme and watch what Hot Air blows your way!

Gift exchange parties are social events that focus on sharing gifts with family and friends and then “stealing” them from one another, while enjoying friendly banter in an organized party game.

This year you can take the friendly thievery online with a new Facebook application called AlbinoPhant, the online white elephant party. www.albinophant.com is a mimic of the traditional gift exchange party in many ways, and in some ways, it breaks new ground.

Participants receive several benefits from all the stealing that goes on in these parties by provide the opportunity to socialize and to share gifts with each other. The online version also provides the sharing of real gifts, the stealing of the gifts and great conversation on a special game play page.

With the enhanced sharing tools on the web, the online version allows more expressive conversation than ever before. A steady stream of AlbinoPhant comments allows party participants the opportunity to post YouTube videos and images to assist in participating in the fun. There are even opportunities to share some of the conversation outside of the party in other social networks, allowing the party atmosphere to spill over in other corners of the web.

These social events are some of the most popular gathering and gift-giving activities in the US and Canada. The challenge with the traditional format is that all the participants need to attend in one place to make the party work. With the online party, anyone can be a participant in the event as long as they have access to an Internet connection.

The AlbinoPhant gift exchange is a labor of love by the Christensen family. They have used the online gift swap to stay connected with their scattered family members for several years. Sarah Christensen, a mother of five and grandmother of seven shares her love of the game by commenting, “When our youngest left home three years ago, we missed our family gift exchange party so much we started doing our exchange online.” And Bruce Christensen added this comment, “We visited more in 19-days while we were playing than we do all year, because of this party”. Their entire family loves this game and is thrilled to share it with others at this time.

The Christensen’s hired a team of Facebook developers and other web professionals to take their simple family party and turn it into a fully operational Facebook application. Now they want to share it with others.

So go ahead and break the 8th Commandment without guilt… Join in the fun by stealing gifts in a white elephant gift exchange, by playing AlbinoPhant, online this year. There are no confessions necessary!

Hosted on line

McMinnville — The social networks can now be used for friendly larceny, with the launch of an online white elephant gift exchange party called AlbinoPhant.

This Facebook application allows family and friends the opportunity to party together in a virtual gift exchange, just like they would if gathered together in one location. They exchange real gifts, share friendly banter and enjoy the holiday spirit, through the online party.

Gift exchange parties are social events that focus on sharing gifts with family and friends and then “stealing” gifts from one another in an organized party game

AlbinoPhant brings people together to participate in the party on a common game-play page, where wrapped gifts are displayed, opened, stolen and where comments are shared. This application facilitates gift giving among those who would be sharing gifts with each other anyway. AlbinoPhant just provides a fun, conversational and social way to pass out the gifts.

Traditional white elephant parties build lively conversation and great stories around the gifts as they are opened. With the enhanced sharing tools on the web, the online version allows more expressive conversation than ever before. The AlbinoPhant comment stream allows party participants the opportunity to post YouTube videos and images to assist in making the exchange party a real fun game. There are even opportunities to share some of the conversation outside of the party in other social networks, allowing the party atmosphere to spill over in other corners of the web.

The online white elephant party uses a combination of eCommerce and social networking tools to build the party system. AlbinoPhant is a gift purchasing and sharing facilitator, displaying hundreds of Amazon items in level pricing markets for convenient shopping. The host and each party participant use these single pricing markets ($15 to $50) to select gifts for the party. This leveling feature is used to keep the gift spending closer to equal among all of the players, reducing the “big-spender/cheap-skate” issues.

When all of the gifts are virtually wrapped, opened, discussed, stolen and re-stolen, the game ends. The application’s management system then sorts out who gets which real gift and sees that each present is delivered to the correct address.

The online gift exchange is a labor of love by the Christensen family, who are new to Facebook application development. The Christensen’s have tested the online gift swap party with their scattered family members for several years. They hired a team of Facebook developers and other web professionals to take their simple family party exchange and turn it into a fully operational Facebook application. Now they are eager to share this fun exchange, AlbinoPhant, with others.

This holiday season the networks will play host to thousands of gift thieves and promote friendly banter to liven up holiday parties. What is more social than a lively party?

It seems that there is a group of serious Lego aficionados that have adapted the traditional white elephant gift exchange or Yankee Swap into a Lego brick exchange.

OK… did you know that Lego pieces were called bricks?  I’m of Danish descent and I always thought of them as blocks not bricks.

Oh… did you know that they were invented in Denmark?  Me nether!

I am assuming that the title Dirty Brickster spun from the Dirty Santa gift exchange, which is just one of the many names for this traditional party activity.

It seems that a Seattle based Lego brick group called Sealug are the developers of this gift party.  They use the Dirty Brickster game to exchange Lego brick assemblies and other Lego gear.

This is just another example of how many ways the white elephant gift exchange party can be adapted for fun.

If you review the rules for the Dirty Brickster, you will see that they follow the white elephant party rules pretty closely. Except for the chanting…

When a participant steals a Lego gift, those assembled generally chant “Dirty Brickster! Dirty Brickster! Dirty Brickster!”.

I can see why this chanting rule works for the Lego party, but can you imagine trying this at the White Elephant Gift Exchange?     It would be a mouthful and a tongue-twister.

So, now you know of the Dirty Brickster party and the history of Legos…

What other names have your heard given to the Yankee Swap, err, I mean – Rob your Neighbor.