Boxing Day
Today is Boxing Day. Many people, when I tell them about Boxing Day, they ask me what is the purpose behind this holiday. When I first heard about Boxing Day, I too, had no idea what it meant or why it existed. Boxing Day isn’t a holiday celebrated in the states. It is a holiday predominately celebrated within the commonwealth nations. Though I have read that it is somewhat celebrated in the states. When I first heard about Boxing Day, I was to assume, it had to do with all the boxes left over from Christmas…and somehow the leftover boxes incorporated into sales or something of that nature. I don’t know whether that is entirely true, but I did some research on the internet, and came up with these ideas. *NOTE, I am just copying and pasting the information from the following website…http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxing_Day.
Boxing Day
Boxing Day is a public holiday observed in many Commonwealth countries on 26 December. In many European countries it is also a holiday, called St Stephen's Day or the Second Day of Christmas. Depending on its origin, it may have traditionally been strictly defined as the first weekday after Christmas [1]. However over the past few decades, Boxing Day has been almost universally accepted as the 26th December [2], although its associated public holiday may fall on a different day.
In Commonwealth countries, any fixed-date holidays falling on Saturday or Sunday are often observed on the next weekday, so if Boxing Day falls on a Saturday then Monday 28 December is a public holiday; while, if Christmas Day is a Saturday then both Monday 27 December and Tuesday 28 December will be public holidays. In the government holiday listings of the United Kingdom for 2004, the bank holiday in lieu of Boxing Day was observed on Monday 27 December, before the holiday in lieu of Christmas Day on Tuesday 28 December.
Origins
There is much dispute over the true origins of Boxing Day. The more common stories include:
· Centuries ago, merchants would present their servants food and fruits as a form of Yuletide tip. Naturally, the gifts of food and fruit were packed in boxes, hence the name "Boxing Day".
· In feudal times, Christmas was a reason for a gathering of extended families. All the serfs would gather their families in the manor of their lord, which makes it easier for the lord of the estate to hand out annual stipends to the serfs. After all the Christmas parties on December 25th,the lord of the estate would give practical goods such as cloth, grains, and tools to the serfs who lived on his land, and one family would get a box full of such goods the day after Christmas. Under this explanation, there was nothing voluntary about this transaction; the lord of the manor was obligated to supply these goods. Because of the boxes being given out, hence the day was called Boxing Day.
· In Britain many years ago, it was common practice for the servants to carry boxes to their employers when they arrive for their day's work on the day after Christmas (26th December). Their employers would then put coins in the boxes as special end-of-year gifts. This can be compared with the modern day concept of Christmas bonuses. Because the servants carried boxes for the coins, hence the name Boxing Day.
· In churches, it was tradition to open the church's donation box on Christmas day, and the money in the donation box were to be distributed to the poorer or lower class citizens on the next day. In this case, the "box" in "Boxing Day" comes from that one gigantic lockbox the donations were left in.
The theories above, irrespective of the specifics, all seem to indicate that the original tradition that lead to what we know know as Boxing Day may have been to maintain society's class structure. It was a one-way gift-giving practice, where gifts flowed from a higher class of society to the lower classes (the serfs, the poorer people, etc). An exchange of gifts would indicate equality between the giver and the receiver, which is what Boxing Day may originally have been intended to fight against.
Alternatively, some have proposed that "Boxing Day" may have been when all the Christmas decorations went back in their boxes to await next year's festivities. This seems less likely, however, when we consider the known age of the term "Boxing Day", which exceeds the modern decorating obsession by several centuries.
Commonwealth observance
Boxing Day in the UK is traditionally a day for sporting activity, originally fox hunting, but in modern times football and horseracing.
In Canada, Boxing Day is also observed as a public holiday, and is a day when stores sell their excess Christmas inventory at significantly reduced prices. Boxing Day has become so important for retailers that they often extend it into a "Boxing Week". This occurs similarly in Australia and New Zealand.
In Australia, the cricket test match starting on December 26 is called the Boxing Day Test Match, and is played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground before the largest crowd of the summer. In Sydney, the annual Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race, one of the biggest and most prestigious ocean racing events in the world, begins on this day, as the yachts depart Sydney Harbour before many thousands of spectators around the harbour and in spectator boats.
In South Africa, the 26th is also observed as a public holiday. Although officially the day is known as the Day of Goodwill, it is also often referred to as Boxing Day by local English speakers. It is common for a cricket test match, played against a visiting international team, to start on this day.
European observance
In Austria, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Sweden, the 26th is known as the Second day of Christmas ("der zweite Weihnachtsfeiertag" in Germany, Annandag Jul — "the day after Christmas" — in Sweden) and is also a public holiday. In Ireland, the holiday is known as St Stephen's Day, or Wren's Day; in Austria it is called Stefanita which also means "St. Stephen's Day"; in Wales, it is known as Gŵyl San Steffan (St. Stephen's Holiday). In Catalonia, this day is known as Sant Esteve, Catalan for St. Stephen. A practice known as Hunt the Wren is still practiced by some in the Isle of Man, where people thrash out wrens from hedgerows. Traditionally they were killed and their feathers presented to households for good luck.
North American observance
In the United States (although not officially named there and not formally observed) and Canada, Boxing Day is the day when many retail stores sell their products at discounted rates. This results in huge lineups at stores such as Best Buy, Circuit City, Wal-Mart, Sears and other stores. The products are in limited quantity and sometimes, although illegal, stores use bait and switch techniques. The reason why stores have these sales is to clear out old inventory for the next year. Most products have a mail-in rebate to be used, a tactic used by manufacturers to clear their inventory.
I am sure that you’d be able to do your own research if you wanted to. But for those who don’t care to, and just are interested in the “holiday” of Boxing Day, hopefully this small article has given you a better idea. For me, it’s just a day to relax, and of course to look over all the exciting Christmas pressies that I’ve received.
Happy Boxing Day!!
-current mood-HAPPY, going to webcam with my family soon.
Boxing Day
Boxing Day is a public holiday observed in many Commonwealth countries on 26 December. In many European countries it is also a holiday, called St Stephen's Day or the Second Day of Christmas. Depending on its origin, it may have traditionally been strictly defined as the first weekday after Christmas [1]. However over the past few decades, Boxing Day has been almost universally accepted as the 26th December [2], although its associated public holiday may fall on a different day.
In Commonwealth countries, any fixed-date holidays falling on Saturday or Sunday are often observed on the next weekday, so if Boxing Day falls on a Saturday then Monday 28 December is a public holiday; while, if Christmas Day is a Saturday then both Monday 27 December and Tuesday 28 December will be public holidays. In the government holiday listings of the United Kingdom for 2004, the bank holiday in lieu of Boxing Day was observed on Monday 27 December, before the holiday in lieu of Christmas Day on Tuesday 28 December.
Origins
There is much dispute over the true origins of Boxing Day. The more common stories include:
· Centuries ago, merchants would present their servants food and fruits as a form of Yuletide tip. Naturally, the gifts of food and fruit were packed in boxes, hence the name "Boxing Day".
· In feudal times, Christmas was a reason for a gathering of extended families. All the serfs would gather their families in the manor of their lord, which makes it easier for the lord of the estate to hand out annual stipends to the serfs. After all the Christmas parties on December 25th,the lord of the estate would give practical goods such as cloth, grains, and tools to the serfs who lived on his land, and one family would get a box full of such goods the day after Christmas. Under this explanation, there was nothing voluntary about this transaction; the lord of the manor was obligated to supply these goods. Because of the boxes being given out, hence the day was called Boxing Day.
· In Britain many years ago, it was common practice for the servants to carry boxes to their employers when they arrive for their day's work on the day after Christmas (26th December). Their employers would then put coins in the boxes as special end-of-year gifts. This can be compared with the modern day concept of Christmas bonuses. Because the servants carried boxes for the coins, hence the name Boxing Day.
· In churches, it was tradition to open the church's donation box on Christmas day, and the money in the donation box were to be distributed to the poorer or lower class citizens on the next day. In this case, the "box" in "Boxing Day" comes from that one gigantic lockbox the donations were left in.
The theories above, irrespective of the specifics, all seem to indicate that the original tradition that lead to what we know know as Boxing Day may have been to maintain society's class structure. It was a one-way gift-giving practice, where gifts flowed from a higher class of society to the lower classes (the serfs, the poorer people, etc). An exchange of gifts would indicate equality between the giver and the receiver, which is what Boxing Day may originally have been intended to fight against.
Alternatively, some have proposed that "Boxing Day" may have been when all the Christmas decorations went back in their boxes to await next year's festivities. This seems less likely, however, when we consider the known age of the term "Boxing Day", which exceeds the modern decorating obsession by several centuries.
Commonwealth observance
Boxing Day in the UK is traditionally a day for sporting activity, originally fox hunting, but in modern times football and horseracing.
In Canada, Boxing Day is also observed as a public holiday, and is a day when stores sell their excess Christmas inventory at significantly reduced prices. Boxing Day has become so important for retailers that they often extend it into a "Boxing Week". This occurs similarly in Australia and New Zealand.
In Australia, the cricket test match starting on December 26 is called the Boxing Day Test Match, and is played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground before the largest crowd of the summer. In Sydney, the annual Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race, one of the biggest and most prestigious ocean racing events in the world, begins on this day, as the yachts depart Sydney Harbour before many thousands of spectators around the harbour and in spectator boats.
In South Africa, the 26th is also observed as a public holiday. Although officially the day is known as the Day of Goodwill, it is also often referred to as Boxing Day by local English speakers. It is common for a cricket test match, played against a visiting international team, to start on this day.
European observance
In Austria, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Sweden, the 26th is known as the Second day of Christmas ("der zweite Weihnachtsfeiertag" in Germany, Annandag Jul — "the day after Christmas" — in Sweden) and is also a public holiday. In Ireland, the holiday is known as St Stephen's Day, or Wren's Day; in Austria it is called Stefanita which also means "St. Stephen's Day"; in Wales, it is known as Gŵyl San Steffan (St. Stephen's Holiday). In Catalonia, this day is known as Sant Esteve, Catalan for St. Stephen. A practice known as Hunt the Wren is still practiced by some in the Isle of Man, where people thrash out wrens from hedgerows. Traditionally they were killed and their feathers presented to households for good luck.
North American observance
In the United States (although not officially named there and not formally observed) and Canada, Boxing Day is the day when many retail stores sell their products at discounted rates. This results in huge lineups at stores such as Best Buy, Circuit City, Wal-Mart, Sears and other stores. The products are in limited quantity and sometimes, although illegal, stores use bait and switch techniques. The reason why stores have these sales is to clear out old inventory for the next year. Most products have a mail-in rebate to be used, a tactic used by manufacturers to clear their inventory.
I am sure that you’d be able to do your own research if you wanted to. But for those who don’t care to, and just are interested in the “holiday” of Boxing Day, hopefully this small article has given you a better idea. For me, it’s just a day to relax, and of course to look over all the exciting Christmas pressies that I’ve received.
Happy Boxing Day!!
-current mood-HAPPY, going to webcam with my family soon.
posted by Gaylicious© at Monday, December 26, 2005
1 Comments:
Coolness! Thanks for expalaining it, luv!
Heard about Boxing Day when i first read about it as a child.
Also became slightly more familiar with it when i lived in London for two years, although truthfully i would go back to the philippines to celebrate christmas with Daddy and Mommy.
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