Dec. 22, 2008
Boxing Day
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I was asked in a comment on my previous blog what is Boxing Day. My first instinct is to answer this according to what I remember it being. For me, Boxing Day was the day we would go to visit all my mom and dad's friends. People would have "open houses" where they would have all kinds of Christmas snacks and goodies laid out and you'd go around town visiting your old friends, the ones you only visited this one time a year. You got to eat a lot of crackers, salami, pickles and cheese (this was my favorite platter!), cookies and other candies, and chips and dips. Of course, this really doesn't explain what Boxing day really is or where it originated. So I had to google it. I learned that traditionally this was a day to give gifts to those less fortunate than themselves. From Wikipedia here is what they have to say about Boxing Day: A Christmas box is, in English tradition, a clay box used in artisan shops. Apprentices, masters, visitors, customers, and others would put donations of money into the box, like a piggy bank, and then, after Christmas, the box would be shattered and all the contents shared among the workers of the shop. Thus, masters and customers could donate bonuses to the workers anonymously, and the employees could average their wages. The habit of breaking the Christmas box lent its name to Boxing Day. The term "Christmas box" now refers generally to a gift or pay bonus given to workers.[5] The Oxford English Dictionary attributes it to the Christmas box; the verb box meaning: "To give a Christmas-box (colloq.); hence the term boxing-day." The date coincides with the Feast of St. Stephen.Guess that explains it well. Now of course, like Christmas, Boxing Day has become a day to have sales in stores. It is celebrated in the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. And some other Commonwealth countries that have a mainly Christian population. As a child, I used to think it was named Boxing Day because you boxed up all your Christmas wrapping garbage and put it in the trash. So though it is a few days away, Happy Boxing Day! |
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Dec. 24, 2008 - Boxing Day
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