Festivus 2020… The Year of Elaine

Just as the real Elaine did in Seinfeld, the TR-6 Elaine mannequin shouts "Get Out," as she shoves 2020 to the ground. — Just as the character Elaine did in Seinfeld, the TR-6 Elaine mannequin shouts “Get Out,” as she shoves 2020 to the ground.

Daniel Wagner, a Seinfeld fan from West Springfield, Virginia, and his neighbors, have decided to celebrate Festivus by having “Elaine” shove 2020 into the past.

Not being keen on “creating a super spreader event to end 2020,” in lieu of a Festivus gathering, this year Daniel has figured out a way that they can still have some fun.

“Taking another page out of the Seinfeld lore, we have an Elaine mannequin (TR-6) that will be dressed up and placed on a willing participant’s front lawn for 24 hours,” Daniel explained.

The mannequin is accompanied by a Festivus pole and a sign proclaiming the event as, “The Year of Elaine.”

A mannequin that looked like Elaine was a major plot point in the Season 5 Seinfeld episode “The Pie,” where Kramer spotted an Elaine look-alike mannequin in a clothing store, which caused an upset Elaine to demand the store explain where they got the mannequin, and to remove it.

In the “Year of Elaine” gag, along with the Elaine mannequin, a white elephant gift is also included. The gift may be kept or passed on, with no stealing of gifts. If a person keeps the gift, they must pass a different gift on to the next house.

Someone is definitely getting a new label maker!

Daniel and his neighbors plan to continue the tradition through the entire month of December with photos posted to Facebook and to an Instagram account at https://www.instagram.com/the_year_of_elaine/ using the hash tags #Festivus2020 and #TheYearofElaine(TR-6).

To keep the fun times moving along, Daniel and his group had to incorporate a bit of online ingenuity.

Daniel explained that the TR-6 Elaine mannequin only goes to willing participants who have signed up on SignUpGenius.com. Once the Elaine mannequin has been placed on their lawn, they get to keep it the entire next day. Then, that house checks the online list for the next recipient and the tradition continues.

Much of the joy of this tradition is for neighbors to impress each other with their creativity, and the gift of humor, especially in this trying year.

For example, a shopping cart filled with “pandemic supplies” doubles as a prop for many of Elaine’s setups.

Certainly, an excellent way to deal with 2020, a year deemed to be ruined by the onslaught of COVID-19, is to laugh at the face of it. Good thing the comedy of Seinfeld is timeless. Laughing our way into 2021 is an excellent plan, and a Seinfeld-themed gag may just be the catalyst people need.

Another Festivus miracle!