What is the best low-tech protocol to simulate drawing names out of a hat and ensure secrecy?

Question

Each year at Thanksgiving, my family has drawn names out of a hat to determine who they\'ll be a \"Secret Santa\" for the Christmas gift exchange. It\'s important to our fam

Answer 1

An easy solution:

• Write each name on a card and close it.
• For each couple, put one on stack A and the other on stack B.
• Divide the singles over A and B. (You have to know who is on which stack).
• Assign the notes on stack B to someone on stack A and the other way round.
• If there is an odd number, keep one of the singles (blind) apart and assign that to another. (There is a slight chance that person gets himself) but you can counter that by taking the card yourself and swap it with another if it is you.