If she doesn't like it, I'm blaming it on Yul Brynner-- You know the King of Siam. By "it" I mean the gift I sent to a fellow blogger as part of Margaret at Nanny Goats In Panties' White Elephant Gift Exchange. Do you know what a "White Elephant" is?
–noun
1.
a possession unwanted by the owner but difficult to dispose of: Our Victorian bric-a-brac and furniture were white elephants. [This blogger's translation: junk]
2.
a possession entailing great expense out of proportion to its usefulness or value to the owner: When he bought the mansion he didn't know it was going to be such a white elephant.
3.
an abnormally whitish or pale elephant, usually found in Thailand; an albino elephant.
Origin: 1850-1855- from the perh. apocryphal tale that the King of Siam would award a disagreeable courtier a white elephant, the up keep of which which would ruin the courtier
I took my White Elephant gift selection seriously, wrapping the most tacky, useless, get-it-outta-my-house gift I could find. Afterall, it's supposed to be a gag gift, right?
But what if one man's trash is another man's treasure and the blogger I sent the gift too actually really, really likes it? Do I make light and say I misunderstood the rules of engagement? Or do I tell the truth-- That this Love Birds Soap Dish.....
....Has been passed around my family for years in our annual Holiday White Elephant Exchange.
Fortunately my Mom is a good sport because when she first purchased this gift for my Baby Sister about eight years ago, she sincerely thought it was the perfect gift for her. Sis had other ideas and wondered if perhaps she had been switched at birth because it was definitely not her taste, not ever. So Mom promptly suggested a White Elephant Exchange for the following year and the passing of the Love Birds began!
For the record, I've gotten stuck with this dish three times over the years, which just goes to show, if you aren't at the exchange in person you're going to get the junkiest of the junk.
When Margaret posted about the after-holidays exchange party I jumped at the opportunity to rid myself of "something inexpensive and hopefully hideous"... Like the Love Birds.
Truthfully, it's really not that bad, it's just so unpractacle for a soap dish-- Did you see all those nocks and crannies for soap gunk to build up in. Who wants to clean that? Not me, and apparently not anyone else in my family either.
So Paige at Some Days You Gotta Dance I hope you don't love the Love Birds but if you do, I hope you can take a joke. If not, it's all Yul Brynner's fault.
Thanks to Margaret for hosting this little ditty. Stop by and read about more White Elephant treasures at Nanny Goats In Panties.
What's the craziest gift you've received?
Welcome to www.TheFiftyFactor.com - Joanna Jenkins
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52 comments:
I have a friend who has a retro house and that soap dish would be perfect in her bathroom..just in case you get it back! Now I wish I had sent the salt and pepper shakers I have! It's the torso of a woman in a tiny bikini..and you know what the shakers are!
Thanks I never knew that the King of Siam was the source of White Elephant gifts.
But you know having a white elephant would be interesting and fun if I had a place to roam around with it. Certainly better than that soap dish.
It would have to be the potty chair I received at a Pastor~Deacon Christmas party. I gave 'Holy' long-johns!!! Get it ....holey~Holy...Heeehehehe!!!!
Sounds like you gals had a blast with your elephants!
God bless ya sweetie!!!!
In our house, that would last all of five minutes as a soap dish, and end up sliding off the side and land in tiny pieces - accidentally of course ;)
Oh, but...that soap dish is a treasured family heirloom now! You can't give it away! What will everyone hope not to get next year??
That's funny! I recently gave the Neckline Slimmer from TV, as a white elephant gift.
Yeah, that is definitely a white elephant gift. I wonder what she thought of it? I guess I might need to go over there and check it out. :-)
That truly is funny! If we all liked the same things it would be a boring world, I suppose.
these exchanges must be fun, seeing that someone else treasures your trash! Did you get anything you liked in exchange?
I'm with you--soap dishes should not have nooks and crannies. I'm so glad they have White Elephant exchanges--it gives us all a chance to get rid of mother-in-law gifts (Ooops, did I say that?).
That's a great story, Joanne. And maybe Paige will LOVE it! Make sure you check in again when you get YOUR gift!
Yul Brynner? White elephant? I can see the connection.
learn something new everyday! thanks for that bit of trivia.. and I have never been to a White Elephant exchange so never need to find something useless.. but I'll keep all this in mind
Love bird soap dish? I think it joins the green goat creamer as the most White Elephantish gifts so far!
Love the family story. I have a similar one with a green spider broach.
I don't know, but I'll bet that soap dish will some way, somehow be back to haunt you. Something you have tried that hard to get rid of won't go away that easily :)
My sister and I do that too. We pick out just horrible things sometimes to give to each other.
Just whistle a happy tune!
You are too funny! I see it runs in the family. Hugs my friend. xo
I love Yul Brynner in the King and I.
Ahhh..White elephants... I remember those. One year everybody was actually fighting over the most hideous lamp in the shape of a naked lady crouched in a fetus position with a huge shade on top. It was incredibly ugly, but so ugly that it was a conversation started. I wonder where it went.
Your soap dish is rather charming. I was quite captivated by it. I'll bet I might have even liked it if I received it, but I wouldn't put soap on it. :-)
White elephant gifts are so much fun..well, giving them more then getting them...lol...we do this in my family too...got rid of some things...but came home with some too...put away to give someone else next year. Hope the person who got your soap dish enjoys it and gives her quite a smile. :)
Oh my goodness, I used to have a dish exactly like that! Really, only I never realized it was supposed to be a soap dish.
My sister-in-law, knowing I collect heart-shaped boxes, picked that dish up a yard sale for me - oh, ages ago. It was knicked on the backside and one of the flowers was chipped slightly. I thanked her for it, of course, but it was accidentally broken along with some of my prized pieces, including my one Limoges piece, some years ago.
I think the oddest thing I've ever received was from the same sister-in-law. It was a southern belle doll lamp, and underneath the skirt was storage space. I remember she was tall, in a pink lace-covered gown, face one of those fabric wrapped things with painted features, but real eyelashes out to HERE, and her wide brimmed hat stood high off her head to become the shade, which made the whole thing preposterous.
Unfortunatley, doll lamp, too, met with an untimely demise.
But the weirdest thing I've ever known someone to receiev was my ex-brother-in-law. My sister had told me about how strange Christmas was at his house, and the one year they were married I saw it myself. He received ONE gift from his parents - a six-inch plastic Benjamin Franklin doll in purple clothes. It was hilarious and sad at the same time.
i have a great set of vinyl records that keep making their way back to me through white elephant...
What a lovely and thoughtful White Elephant post!
I actually toyed with the idea of re-gifting a couple of different things, but then worried that if I were to do that, and identify the people who gave it to me to begin with...
...well, I don't want to hurt my dog walker's feelings. And, my assistant is a lovely woman, but I wouldn't want to identify her on the internet. But they both have terrible taste in gifts.
I think it is pretty. But, then again, I wouldn't use it for a soap dish; I'd use it for maybe a chocolate dipped strawberry holder or cheese or small trinkets. I think you did good, JJ!
Very funny! As you say, one woman's hideous might be another's treasure?
My two sisters send each other hideous shower caps and recently, I ended up with two of them!
You have just given me my new go-to excuse. Dude that's all Yul Brynner's fault.
Side note: Unbelievable -- spell check knows the correct spelling of Yul Brynner.
The soap dish looks like something to hang on a wall. It would have to be in a house with ribbons and bows and doilies. I bet your family will miss the soap dish this next year at their white elephant exchange.
What a treat to finally exorcise the lovebird soapdish from your family! I love White Elephants....
Very entertaining that you have your own familiar "White Elephant". I have never heard of this expression and throughly enjoyed learning something knew.;))
xoxo
I think the bird soap dish is an excellent choice for the White Elephant gift exchange!! But warning!! What will you exchange at the next family party??? You gave away the most treasured of the gifts!! Oh dear!!
Hugs
SueAnn
love it....every gift my MIL gives me qualifies for a white elephant gift!
I received a large black umbrella -- with deep red silk roses stitched all around the edge. When It is closed up it looks like a bouquet of roses. It is hideous. It was given sincerely. I think.
I've just learned something new, thank you Joanna.
The sense of humor involved in giving a "white elephant" is right up my alley, I just love the concept.
I love your White Elephant family tradition! Your mom really is a good sport to play along. I see your point about it being impractical as a soap dish. I also agree that it makes a lovely White Elephant gift!
We used to have a similar tradition. Every Christmas, someone in the family would receive a vase that was given to my husband and I as a wedding present. I don't know who received it last, but I have a hunch that it now resides in some final resting spot where ugly vases go to die.
In my younger days, I probably would have LIKED having that soap dish!!! But yep, a LOT of cleaning with those little knobby things! I think the craziest gift I ever received was those nose strips to help you stop snoring...but then, it WAS a gag gift exchange!
No one gives me anything - apart from grief!
Joanna, that's simply brilliant.
Your family fun and what is happening now.
If only the soap dish could talk... I'm sure it would have a lot to say.
Hello Joanna,
Stopping by to catch up on your posts and see how you are doing. I cannot believe you still have not gotten that bean jar open! Sounds like you had a good time at the canning class. I have not attempted to do any canning yet. It is on my list... BUT I have learned how to con my mom and aunt out of some of the stuff they have canned! I have a friend who would actually love that soap dish!
~ Tracy
Oh my, what a lot of fun giving gifts like this must be. Trying to come up with something tackier than the last gift must create a lot of laughs around the family. The worst gift I got ever was possibly a box of very stale chocolates for Valentines Day many years ago in Los Angeles of all places. Which isnt too bad considering. I agree though someone's trash is definitely someone elses treasure. I just read another fabulous post about this white elephant gift giving on Old Lady of the Hills blog. She lives in Hollywood and has such amazing stories and friends.
It has been ages since I have stopped by but now I have more time I will be catching up. I cannot wait to see what gift you received now!! do share with us.
Now THAT'S funny, JJ!! What's the craziest gift I ever received? Well, there have been many, but a dear friend sent me a Rush Limbaugh dvd for my birthday last year. I gifted it back to her for Christmas. :)
I bet it's fun figuring out how to unload that gift when you get it!
Joanna, I love white elephant gift exchanges, and am saddened when so many people just settle for finding something "unclever" at the dollar store. My favorite white elephant was giving a fairly large picture of a Husky dog (U. Washington mascot) in a three dimensional plastic frame ... picture and frame all one piece. It was horrrrific, but well worth the laughs. It was left behind by the people who sold our house to us. How best to make good use of such junk?
Your Yul Brynner fits the bill perfectly! I kind of like him, but would give him away at the next W.E. opportunity.
I was given a large hand painted plate that was meant to be a white elephant in my women's service group, but it ended up on my kitchen wall. I was drawn to it somehow. One man's trash -- well, you know the rest,
My mom had a soap dish that was a tall pedestal with three naked cherubs holding up the dish. I wish I still had it so I could use it as the most awesome white elephant ever.
That's too funny. I've participated in and hosted "tacky exchange" parties before. One year I wrapped up a gift which I had received years earlier of a horribly grotesque-looking white angora cat - a really large, dollar store kind of china piece. It was only while at the party, that I recalled who had given it to me.. and she was at this party too. It turned out that her husband ended up with the cat.. they both thought it was quite cute and that their daughter would love it. She didn't remember that it came from her in the first place.
Oh! This is too funny!
We have this little fairy sitting in a hand. The big joke IS: Body parts without the body creeps me out SO MUCH!!!! My father had the same reaction and his sister hates THEM too:)
I have a sister that will spend big money on gage gifts...One year she bought three fairies with hands...The year I got the hand...I unwrapped my beautiful gift and after seeing this hand emerge from its black bag ((thinking it was a real hand)); I freaked out screamed, dropped it and it broke into a million pieces. We all laughed until our sides hurt or we wet our pants. This same sister passed one fairy hand around her office that is the gage gift of all times. AND then another year she gave my brother the hand...He is very patient and kept it for years..THIS year my brother gave it back to it's rightful owner. AND the joke goes on.
LOL!!!!!!!!!!
Have a great DAY!!!!
Let's just say I'm glad I wasn't the recipient of the love birds soap dish this year.
But what did you get in return?
funnnnnnn! smiles....
I love hearing all the backstories of these white elephant gifts. I think your's is the best. Can't wait to hear what Paige thinks of this soap dish.
what a great idea. now i can´t wait to see what you get...;)
I read this post the other day when you first published it and thought I left a comment.
However, as I was looking at my blogroll and caught sight of Yul Briner, I was drawn back to this, like a moth to the flame.
That man was the most beautiful work of art to me!
I know this is about white elephant gifts. . . but I'm sidetracked by the picture of handsome, breath-taking beauty of that man!
My aunt used to send me aging Avon products that had been lying around her house for decades. Of course, she also sent me a one-carat diamond solitaire that had been lying around her house for decades.
(I got to see Yul Brynner in "The King and I" at the Fox Theater in Atlanta when I was a teen. He was amazing!)
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