25th November 2008 - by Benedict Smythe
Boxing Day: The Grand Commonwealth Tradition
Americans and other citizens beyond the Commonwealth of Nations
usually wonder much about the customs, cultures and holidays
that this rich melting pot of historic Western civilization has
to offer. Aside from the differences in spelling, word usage
and cultural specifics, there are many variations to special
calendar days in the commonwealth and especially the UK.
One of these seemingly mysterious holidays is known as Boxing
Day, also known as St. Stephen’s Day. Considered to fall upon
the 26th of December (or the nearest weekday should Christmas
day fall upon a weekend), Boxing Day is one of those UK
holidays that many people just don’t seem to understand at face
value.
What exactly is Boxing Day?
Boxing Day is a public holiday that, historically, was meant to
be for employees and citizens of a lower social class. In olden
times, a box made out of clay was played in shops where people
visiting them would put in their coins. Come the day after
Christmas, this “Christmas box” would then be broken to
retrieve all the money that’s inside, just like a modern day
ceramic piggy bank. Whatever’s inside is split amongst all the
workers for them to take home as an augmentation to their
month’s salary (something like a Christmas bonus).
There are many variations to the tradition of Boxing Day across
Europe, but the common denominator is that this holiday was
meant to give workers and servants some time for rest and
relaxation after a busy holiday season. This usually meant
giving these individuals the day off as well as some form of
monetary compensation (or in some cases, giving them a “box” of
whatever leftover food remained from the previous day’s
festivities).
Boxing Day in the 21st century
In these days that social classes are no longer the norm and
there is no more delineation between servant and free, Boxing
Day is a national holiday where people of the UK and the
commonwealth get a day off to rest from the merry making
brought upon them by the greatest day in the year. Countries
around the world may celebrate Boxing day as well, leading to a
variety of post holiday cheer activity the world over.
Australians celebrate Boxing Day much like the Americans
celebrate the Friday after Thanksgiving: there are tons of
sales happening around the country, huge discounts and
clearance items where both young and old alike get to spend
whatever Christmas cash they received. Christmas shopping is
definitely the grand worldwide tradition, but post Christmas
shopping has its place in the sun as well!
In the UK and in some other parts of the world, Boxing Day
becomes a fantastic opportunity for being active in sports and
even just watching. Various cricket, football, rugby and boxing
matches are held on this day, as well as a series of horse
races that’s sure to attract high rollers who just can’t get
enough holiday cheer.
The next time you come across the words Boxing Day, don’t think
about it as a glorious day for fisticuffs: it’s a tradition
that has spanned many centuries, and is even probably as old as
Christmas itself!
Article Source: http://www.articlesabroad.com
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