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by Dan Bimrose Dan Bimrose

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What The Heck Is Boxing Day?

Recently when I told a group of people that I would see them the day after Christmas several of them informed me that this would be Boxing Day. I realize that this was an attempt on their part to be witty, clever and demonstrate a superior knowledge of world holidays.

When I asked them what Boxing Day was they simply shrugged their shoulders and said "I dunno." The one person who did offer me an explanation was not even in the ball park. Research has revealed a variety of explanations for Boxing Day and why it came to be. None of them unfortunately are terribly exciting.
Boxing Day is traditionally celebrated the day after Christmas in the United Kingdom and other countries including our Canadian friends to the north. Officially it is the first business day after Christmas, often requiring a day off of work for employees.

It dates back to the middle ages and essentially developed as a day to give out gifts to employees or the poor.

More specifically here are a few possible explanations for the origin of Boxing Day:

  • When feudalism reigned in England the serfs would gather their families in the manor of their lord, which made it easier for the lord of the estate to hand out annual stipends to the serfs. The day after Christmas the lord of the estate would give necessary goods such as clothing tools and grain to their serfs. Each family would get a box full of such goods the day after Christmas, hence the term Boxing Day.

  • Since the staff had to work on Christmas Day so that their employer could feed his family they were accorded the next day off to celebrated and spend with their own family.   Traditionally the employer would "box" up the leftover food from Christmas Day and send it away with the servants and their families.

  • It is believed that it was once traditional to distribute the money placed in the offering box on Christmas Day to the poor on the day after Christmas. 

    Currently in Canada and England Boxing Day represents a day of shopping that can only compare to the day after Thanksgiving for the US. Retail stores offer liquidation prices on the merchandise they could not get rid of before Christmas.

    So there you have it. You know just a little bit more about a holiday that despite its name has absolutely nothing to do with Muhammad Ali.

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      coffeeandprozac.com comes to you from downtown Aurora, Indiana -- All Original Content Copyright Dan Bimrose 2006