I was surprised that not a lot of people know the origins or the meaning of Boxing Day so I decided to investigate it myself.
It’s nothing to do with the start of the sales.
Or as my Auntie Gladys said
“oh it’s to do with horse racing “
Perhaps she thinks it’s origins are to do with the boxes they are transported in.
It’s nothing to do with the sport of boxing either.
Nor has it come over from the States. They actually recognise it as a celebration of boxes, especially cardboard ones. Seems an odd fact to me or is it a typical
American thing.
In fact it’s an old tradition started here in the UK, if Wikipedia is to be believed.It’s from a time when people in service were given the day off and presented with a gift box by their masters.
They would then go to their own families with their gift box and have their own celebrations.
It’s a holiday recognised in many countries and is also St. Stephen’s Day.
Over on fellow blogger Elizabeth’s post there’s even more details
I actually knew this, I think I researched it when watching Downton Abbey :)
ReplyDeleteThat's what I thought but have you seen Bleubeard and Elizabeth's Altered Booklover post today? There are all sorts of theories!! Hope you had a lovely Christmas! Chrisx
ReplyDeletePopped over to Elizabeth’s blog and have added a link to it on mine now. Thanks for the tip off Chris.
DeleteLynn xx
My friend Cindy who lives in Canada put it on our community calendar one year (probably 12 years ago). I decided to research it, and found there were so many theories, and they all boiled down to class distinction. Thank you SO MUCH for linking to my blog, dear. I appreciate it. I hope you had a lovely Christmas and a great Boxing Day, too.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the education, Lynn. I'll take a look at Elizabeth's blog as well. We did some box-related things on boxing day, as we brought some boxes of stuff to the charity shops ;-) xxx
ReplyDeleteYep that's what my British parents told me growing up in Canada. Sadly now it is a day for big sales - boo.
ReplyDeleteI knew this. In fact a lot of the locals still refer to a gift from their boss as their Xmas Box!
ReplyDeleteHope you both managed to survive the silly season with your sanity intact! Sending you both loads of New Year love. xxx