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A white elephant is a supposedly valuable possession whose cost (particularly cost of upkeep) exceeds its usefulness, and it is therefore a Liability . The term derives from the sacred White Elephants kept by traditional Southeast Asian monarchs in Burma , Thailand , Laos and Cambodia . To possess a white elephant was regarded (and still is regarded, in Thailand and Burma) as a sign that the monarch was ruling with justice and the kingdom was blessed with peace and prosperity. The tradition derives from tales in the scriptures which associate a white elephant with the birth of Buddha . Because the animals were considered sacred, laws protected them from labor, therefore receiving a “gift” of a white elephant from a monarch was both a blessing and a curse; a blessing because of the animal’s sacred nature and a curse because the animal could be put to no practical use. P.T. Barnum once sent an agent to buy a white elephant, sight unseen, hoping to use it as a circus attraction. When it arrived in Bridgeport, Connecticut , it was covered with large pinkish splotches and was not white at all. The public was not impressed and Barnum had to keep his "white elephant" hidden from public view in a stable while he tried to decide how to recover some of the high cost. The elephant later died when his stable burned down. The metaphor was popularized in the United States after New York Giants Manager John McGraw told the press that Philadelphia businessman Benjamin Shibe had "bought himself a white elephant" by acquiring the Philadelphia Athletics baseball team in 1901. The Athletics manager Connie Mack subsequently selected the elephant as the team symbol and Mascot . The team is occasionally referred to as the White Elephants. FAMOUS WHITE ELEPHANTS Aerospace
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