BY EMELANIE WANZEK, CTW FEATURES
The gift that keeps on being given Just because one man’s trash is another man’s treasure doesn’t mean it makes a good Christmas present. A look at the odd tradition of re-gifting
J
odi Newbern’s introduction to the idea of re-gifting began early. At six years old, she tried to give her mom a box of gloves that her mom already owned. For others, the initiation into the world of re-gifting came later — when they unwrapped a gorgeously wrapped box to find a hot pad with Elvis’ face smirking back at the annual white elephant party. Newbern, the author of “Regifting Revival: A Guide to Reusing Gifts Graciously” 36
Spaces: Home for the Holidays
(Synergy Books, 2009), has grown up re-gifting. Though re-gifting and white elephant parties are often thought of as tacky and tasteless, she says the traditional holiday exchange is an opportunity to recycle gift waste, reduce clutter and use your creativity. “White elephant parties are a great idea,” she says. There are countless varieties. “Everyone can bring things they don’t want, have an open exchange, bring wrapped gifts to pass
around, or even make bids on gifts. You end up with something someone else didn’t want, so it doesn’t go to waste.” “White elephant” is an expression used to describe something valuable that has, or will, become a burden to the one who possesses it, according to Albert Jack, author of “Red Herrings and White Elephants: The Origins of Phrases We Use Every Day,” (Harper Collins, 2005). As the legend goes, in Siam (present-day Thailand), white November 2020
