We want to use a "Yankee Swap" for Christmas giving this year.  I
would like to know the details of the procedure.  It is similar to a
white elephant gift swap.

Hello chuzziah,

I think this is a great idea! Here is how it works:

1) You and the others that are participating agree on a set price for
gifts. This way everyone ends up with a similarly priced item. An
example would be to have each person spend between $25-$30. No more,
no less. ( You could even make it a white elephant - yankee swap:-)

2) On the day of the exchange, all gifts are put in one pile. For each
person you have, you make a number on a small piece of paper.

3) Cut up those numbers and put them in a bowl or hat. Mix them up
really good to confuse all the 'cheaters' in the family :-)

4) Now, the person that draws number 1 gets to choose a gift first.
He/she opens it in front of everyone.(no hiding the good gifts!) Now
comes the fun....

5) The person that picked the number 2 gets to decide if they want to
take the gift that person number 1 opened, or choose a new gift from
the pile.

6) If person number 2 chooses to take the gift that number 1 opened,
then number 1 gets to open a new gift or take the gift back and it is
number 3's turn.

7) If person number 2 chooses a new gift, it is still number 3's turn.
Number 3 gets to decide if they would like to take the gift of number
1 or number 2, or choose a new one.

This goes on and on until all gifts are gone. If person number 7 were
up, they could choose any gift from numbers 1-6 and so on...

Just remember that everyone ends up with a gift before the next turn,
and if a person gets a gift taken away, they get a replacement from
the pile or someone else.

It's rather fun, and I found quite a few sites that offer further
explanation, and even variations. Here are a few sites to get you
started:

Yankee Swaps
http://riri.essortment.com/yankeeswaps_rzdo.htm

How to Yankee Swap
http://www.weeno.com/art/1200/235.html

Suggestion to do a white elephant via a Yankee swap (cool idea, same
rules)
http://www.party411.com/forums/holiday01/messages/324.html

Yankee 'Trading'
http://at.yorku.ca/cgi-bin/amca/cafk-29

I hope this answers your question. This sounds like alot of fun, and I
would love to hear how it goes! Should you need further clarification,
please ask before rating this answer, as I would love to be of further
assistance.

To help with this answer I searched Google for:

yankee swap rules
://www.google.com/search?q=yankee+swap+rules

"yankee" swap christmas
://www.google.com/search?q=%22yankee%22+swap+christmas

Thanks for the great question!
SgtCory

This is an hilariously fun way to gift-exchange.  I was involved in
this method 20 years ago with a group of teens and there was no price
limit on the gift.  My gift to the pile was a large box, which was
undoubtly one of the first chosen.  The chooser had fun unwrapping
mounds of newspapers, pulling rocks out of the box and finally tearing
away several rolls of toilet paper to get to the green matchbox truck.

I ended up with a stuffed monkey that said "Somebody wuvs you" on the
shirt.  I fought for this monkey, giving up my chance to choose a gift
for the monkey, then losing it to someone else.  I chose another gift,
that was taken from the next contestant and I reclaimed the monkey. 
This happened several times (knowing how much I coveted the monkey),
but in the end, I finally went home with the monkey.

If you play this game, don't get your heart set on any one item and
you won't go away disappointed.  But, it does keep everyone rolling
with laughter during the entire exchange.  This game could take hours
to play depending on the number of presents involved.  Also, there
MUST be enough presents for everyone.  It would be wise for a few
people to take a couple of extra wrapped gifts in case someone
unexpected shows up (it goes without saying the "spare" gifts should
not be identical).  But, limit the number of gifts in the pile to the
number of players.

Have fun!

Being a transplanted yankee (to Florida), I don't know what a Yankee
Swap is or if it even has anything to do with Yankees (probably not). 
Some of the suggestions are quite good.  We have a big family and
decided last year that gift giving was getting all out of control.  We
are also in two different states.  We did it simply - chose a price
range for gifts, ie 30 - 40 dollars, had each adult make a "wish list"
and drew names from a hat.  The wish list was on the back of the name.
 It worked out great.  We all bought a gift for the younger kids so
they made out like bandits.  We were all happy with our gifts. 
Everyone listed things they would like but would not be likely to buy
for themselves.  We will do it again this year.  We are in NC visiting
our daughter so will pick names for the 2 back home in florida. 
Neil's wife