The Secret Santa has been a favourite festive activity for many years. When I last worked in an office it was always a pretty tense moment, pulling the slip of paper out of the box to reveal a colleague’s name. In my experience, depending on how well the person is known, the next couple of weeks might involve some research on that person’s interests leading to some interesting conversations!

But where did this idea start? The origin is not far removed from the legend of St Nicholas himself. It was originally a Scandinavian idea, where it is called Julklapp (“Jul” meaning Christmas and “Klapp” meaning knock). The tradition involves knocking on a door then leaving a gift, completely unseen. In German tradition, the “Witchel” (fairies) help Santa deliver presents and the Secret Santa game is known as “Witcheln”. It is thought that this is from where idea of Christmas elves derives.

Many in Scandinavian countries also have another twist to their Secret Santa; as well as the giver remaining anonymous, the receiver isn’t directly named on the present label. Instead, the gift tag carries a short funny description and then the recipient must be guessed. Sounds like fun to us, I think we’ll give this a try this year!

Check out our Christmas page for a variety of gifts ideal for Secret Santas and stocking fillers.