Boxing Day

 

Being historically a bit heathen and always up for a drunken rammy, Christmas Day was not a traditional holiday until the late 1950’s. The shipyards and heavy industry all stayed working as normal.

New Year though has always been a public holiday, as has the 2^nd of January. Scotland observed Boxing Day as a bank holiday in the 1970s, so both the legal and public‑holiday status of the 25^th and 26^th of December arrived later than in England and Wales.  When the 267^{th of} December falls on a weekend, the public holiday is often moved, which affects retail opening and public services across Scotland. And banks can hold onto money a wee bit longer rather than transfer it into the account as quickly as they can take it out.  Drives businesses nuts but never mind.

As you know, Boxing Day in the UK is observed on 26 December and was traditionally a time of charitable giving--- as it can be now the steady stream of unwanted presents heading off to the charity shop.  It’s now a time pf sleeping, eating leftovers, taking the dog for a long walk and watching what was missed on the TV.  Plus, it’s a huge day for horse racing and the huge Boxing Day sales one of the biggest retail events of the year. It was always a news item- the mad folk sleeping outside Harrods to nab a cheap TV or a (in those days) a fur coat. Sadly, the charm and the madness of the sales have been gradually replaced by Whatever Back Friday is.

It was also a day for the fox hunting to start. Thankfully banned in forward thinking parts of the Uk. That was also an item on the news, very rich people drinking alcohol from a symbolic silver ‘thing’ and still being able to stay on a horse, which is rather impressive.

Oscar Wilde's quote about fox hunting is: "The English country gentleman galloping after a fox: the unspeakable in full pursuit of the uneatable." This quote reflects Wilde's biting wit and critique of the upper classes, particularly in the context of fox hunting, which was a traditional sport in England.

Historically boxing day was a day for presenting gifts or “boxes” to servants and the poor hence why it has evolved into a national public holiday with distinctive customs.

Boxing Day dates back to the start of the Christian calendar and the practice of giving alms (money to the poor) and gifts the day after Christmas. The name comes from the historical custom of distributing boxes of money, food, or goods to servants, tradespeople, and was associated with the Feast of St Stephen which is the 26th of December!

That’s when Good King Wenceslas looked out, and saw his favourite Pizza- deep, crisp and even.  I don’t if that joke translates but trust me it’s chortlesome.

During the Victorian era the custom became more formalised: employers gave their staff a “Christmas box” and servants were traditionally allowed the day off to visit their families, taking with them gifts or leftover food from their masters’ households so it really engages with an era when social classes were clearly defined. In Victorian Britain the household staff would work very long hours on Christmas Day (in those days the staff would be given one afternoon a week off, and maybe one day a month. They lived in and were fed well) to ensure their employers’ celebrations ran smoothly.  Hence why they were given time off to visit their own families, with boxes of leftover food, money, or practical items and maybe the odd present if they were treasured by their employers.  Postmen, butchers, milkmen and binmen also received boxes as tokens of appreciation for their service throughout the year, and this continues today but it is an envelope that’s handed over.

In a very British way, Boxing Day reflected class structures of the time while also institutionalising charitable giving.

On Boxing Day churches would collect donations for the poor and local charities, and the Box of Boxing Day probably comes from the alms boxes in churches that collected the donations.