Where does the name Bran tub come from?

[melv]

Bran tub. Similar to secret santa I believe, but we are trying t find out what the differences between the two are, and where the term bran tub comes from?

[rinkytink]

I think that with Secret Santa you all pick a name of a person out of a hat and buy a present for that person. With a bran tub, you all put presents into a tub (filled with BRAN or sawdust to cover the presents) and then pick one present out.

[Quizmonster]

As to the source of 'bran tub', bran was originally the husks separated from the ears of corn, barley etc and further filtered out from the flour after milling. As it was used in making biscuits, poultices and so on, people would keep it in a tub or small barrel.

Nowadays, what was bran is sawdust - as Rinkytink says - used to cover small presents in a tub at Hallowe'en, Christmas etc.