It started when Ryan Wasson gave his sibling Eric a box of Santa's Book of Candy fruit sweets in 1987, knowing his brother wouldn't like them.

"I didn't eat them and so the next year I thought, hey I think I'm going to give it back to him. He'll never remember," Eric said.

But Ryan did recognise the sweets the following year and so began their now customary exchange of the sweets.

Over the years the regifting has become more elaborate. The sweets have been frozen in a block of ice, put in jelly and even sewn into a teddy bear when being passed back and forth.

Their friends and family have also been drawn in and used in some of the exchanges, that even involved the sheriff's department one year.

Last year the sweets were presented to Ryan on a silver platter at a restaurant.

This year, Ryan has turned to a group on social media to canvas for ideas on how to spring the gift on his brother.

People's suggestions have included having the sweets arrive via pizza delivery or holding a scavenger hunt with clues.

Both men think they have the upper hand when it comes to their regifting and it doesn't look like the tradition is stopping anytime soon.

"If you ask which one has ever done the best as far as giving these, we're both going to say it's ourself, right?" said Ryan. "We're never going to give in."