It's Boxing Day and I'm once again joining Tracey of Hotchpotch Creations our host this month at Art Journal Journey with her theme What is the meaning of? Let's explore Boxing Day, which I celebrate every few years with my tribute to it. Today I'm once again exploring the reasons and meaning behind this day.
For those of you unfamiliar with Boxing Day, it has been a national holiday in England, Wales, Ireland, Hong Kong, and Canada since 1871. It is also celebrated in other countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Holland, Germany, and the Bahamas.
In parts of Europe, such as Romania, Hungary, Poland, Catalonia, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, and Scandinavia, Boxing Day is also is celebrated as a second Christmas Day.
In Nigeria, Trinidad and Tobago, South Africa, and Singapore, Boxing Day is a public holiday.
In the United States, this day is celebrated as a public holiday in Texas, Kansas, Virginia, North and South
Carolina, and Kentucky.
There are at least 66 countries that celebrate Boxing Day on December 26 each year. Some are known as public holidays, some are called national holidays.
In Ghana, Uganda, Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania, Italy, and Guyana, professional boxing contests are held on Boxing Day. In the U.K, horse racing and soccer are popular sports. In Australia, there is usually a cricket game on Boxing Day.
Now you know how many countries observe boxing day, let's look at what it IS! After hearing the words Boxing Day, you might be tempted to think that this holiday had something to do
with fisticuffs. You would be wrong. It also doesn't mean it's the day to get rid of your leftover Christmas
boxes, or the day to return boxes of unwanted
gifts to the store for a refund or to make an exchange for something you truly desire. If you thought along those lines, you would be completely wrong, too. While there are many theories
that try to explain where the term came from, over the years, I have formed many of my own theories. I share them every few years, so I hope you will indulge me again this year.
I now give you Boxing Day, 2020.
I hope to explain Boxing Day and its origins this Boxing Day, 2020.
Boxing Day roots can be traced to Britain, where it's also known as St.
Stephen's Day. Think of the song "Good King Wenceslas" where he saw a
poor man in the snow, on the "Feast of Stephen."
Just as we Americans watch football on Thanksgiving, my British friends have Boxing
Day rugby or soccer matches (what many British refer to as football) and horse races.
The Irish still refer to the holiday as St. Stephen's Day, and they have
their own tradition called hunting the wren, in which boys fasten a
fake wren to a pole and parade it through town. Also known as Wren Day,
the tradition supposedly dates to 1601, to the Battle of Kinsale.
In Holland,
some collection boxes were made out of earthenware pottery and were shaped like pigs. This may be where
the term "Piggy Bank" originated.
An old tradition in Germany suggests that horses were ridden inside the church during the St. Stephen's Day service.
The Bahamas celebrate Boxing Day with a street parade and festival
called Junkanoo, in which traditional dancers fill the streets with their elaborate costumes and headdresses.
Let's return to the Christmas carol, where Wenceslas, I learned, was the
Duke of Bohemia who reigned in
the early 10th century. He was apparently wandering around on his land
on St. Stephen's Day when he saw a peasant gathering wood in the middle
of a
snowstorm. Moved, the King gathered surplus food and wine and carried
them through the blizzard to the peasant's door. The
tradition has always been closely associated with the Christmas season,
hence the canned-food drives and Salvation Army Santas that pepper our
U.S.
neighborhoods during the winter. Sadly, the coronavirus put a stop to that this year. However, King Wenceslas' good deed
came the
day after Christmas, when the English poor received (and apparently
still receive) most of their
charity.
As an aside, I learned there were actually two St. Stephens. The first
Stephen lived in Rome and was the first man to be killed for
believing in the teachings of Jesus. His story is told in Acts of
the Apostles 6: 1 to 8: 2. There is also evidence that he shares this
day with another St
Stephen, who came from Sweden. St Stephen of Sweden is the patron saint
of horses. It stands to reason because Boxing Day has long been
associated with outdoor sports, especially horse racing and hunting.
I can't find anywhere that King Wenceslas started Boxing Day, but the Church of England might
have. During Advent, Anglican parishes used a locked box in which
churchgoers put their monetary donations. On the day after Christmas,
the boxes were opened and their contents distributed among the
poor, thus possibly giving rise to this scenario
.Similar to that is the "Alms" box which was placed in every church on
Christmas Day, into which worshipers placed a gift for the poor who
lived in the parish. The box was opened the day after Christmas and
distributed to the needy.
Centuries ago, during feudal times, landowners (or manor lords) often
brought everyone together for Christmas. Since all the people who lived
on the manor, mostly serfs, were in one place, it was easy to pass out
the yearly necessities. Each family got a box, depending on their
status, and handing out supplies to the serfs was made easy for the
manor lord. In this scenario, the annual restocking became known as
Boxing Day and was an obligation of the lord of the manor.
Because we're still talking ancient times, another theory involves the merchant
class, who often gave gifts to tradespeople or servants the day after
Christmas, much like we in the U.S. give pre-Christmas gifts or tips to our paper or mail carrier, or person
who tends our lawns or swimming pools. Those gifts from days gone by
were packed in boxes, so the day came to be known as Boxing Day. In
this scenario, the gift was strictly voluntary, and didn't involve an
obligation.
In the 1400s, during the Age of Exploration,
when sailing ships were setting off
to discover new lands, a Christmas Box was used as a good luck device.
It was a small container placed on each ship while it was still in port.
It was put there by a priest, and those crewmen who wanted to ensure a
safe return would drop money into the box. It was then sealed and
kept on board for the entire voyage. In this scenario, if the ship came home safely, the box was handed over to the priest in
exchange for a mass of thanks for a successful
voyage. The priest would keep the box sealed until the day after Christmas when he
would open it to share the contents with the poor.
Another version of Boxing Day is that servants brought their own boxes
to the master the day after Christmas. Each master put small amounts of
coins in the boxes. This scenario is similar to the second theory
above, in that the master was not obligated to give gifts or coins, and
the servants did not depend on the master for their yearly food,
clothing, and other necessities.
Yet another scenario is that the day after Christmas was the traditional
day on which the
aristocracy distributed presents (boxes) to servants and employees, much
like our modern day Christmas bonus or company sponsored Christmas
party. The servants returned
home, opened their boxes and had a second Christmas on what became known
as Boxing Day.
This scenario involves an old English tradition. Since servants
had to wait on their masters on Christmas Day, the servants of the
wealthy were given the next day off to visit their families. Each
servant was given a box to take home containing gifts,
bonuses, and often leftover food.
Similar to the scenario above, during the late 18th century, Lords and
Ladies of the manor would "box
up" their leftover food and distribute these boxes the day
after Christmas to tenants who lived and worked on their lands. The
delivery was made by the aristocracy instead of the servants taking them
with them at the end of Christmas day.
So which scenario is correct? And which Boxing Day scenario do you
prefer? Even the British can't seem to agree when, where, how, or why
Boxing Day came about. They just know it's a bank holiday where
presents have already been opened and a lavish meal has already been
eaten.
This journal page began with 110 lb. cardstock, to which I added computer generated sentences I cut and swiped with black dye ink. All the boxes were stickers. Thank you for visiting today, sharing a bit of your time with me, and possibly sharing your opinions of the origination of Boxing Day. Bleubeard and I also hope to see you
at Art Journal Journey with your own take on The Meaning Of.
19 thoughtful remarks:
Thanks for all the explanations! Fun page! Have a wonderful day, take care, hugs, Valerie
I love how you give the history behind traditions. Ever the teacher...
Merry Christmas! I didn't send out cards this year...I just didn't have it in me.
A great page Elizabeth, and some good explanations of the meaning of Boxing Day. Now it's a day for sales, sports and eating up those Christmas leftovers, and visiting family we didn't see on Christmas Day.
Have a happy day!
Alison xox
Didn't know that many people celebrate Boxing Day, and and always enjoy when you share the history of it. Hope you're feeling well! Hugs, RO
Always learn so much when visiting you! Super cool tribute to boxing day which I had never read much about. Thanks for sharing! Hugz
I’ve enjoyed your posts, but wasn’t able to comment. I’d hit the button and gotten nowhere. I’m always impressed and well informed after digesting the information you post! Christmas around the world especially must have taken much research and posting time. Thank you for it all!
Interesting facts. Boxing Day in the US when all the Christmas presents that don't fit or aren't liked are boxed up and returned to the stores. 😉 Though maybe not this year.
I'm glad you posted about this. I've always wondered about Boxing Day.
Hope your Christmas was the best ever.
Hugs,
Hope you had a good boxing day Elizabeth? For me it's a day I get to rest after doing my bit in the build up to Christmas and Christmas day hosting, no host this year though due to our circumstances but I did still cook Christmas dinner and all the trimmings and deliver to my family, so a well deserved feet up day for me this day.. So fascinating to read this world wide information and I was just stuck on the idea it was those dear servants of the past getting their reward and rest too. Thanks for sharing, always a great read. Hugs Tracey xx
I had never even heard of Boxing Day until I was watching a British movie several years back. :)
Love your “all about Boxing Day” page. I have never been one to hit the sales on this day. In the old days people used to line up right after their Christmas dinner for the store openings the next day. I don’t think anyone does that any more. Obviously our climate is mild here! Hope you had a lovely Christmas. I loved your Christmas post too. And yes Toronto is great around the holidays - I’ve spent quite a few winters there. I love their market at the Distillery District the best! The Eaton Centre has great big decorations - giant reindeer and massive Christmas trees - if you prefer to be indoors.
Too many explanations! I still don't know what it is. Would a George Foreman grill be an appropriate present? If it's a present giving day?
I liked your Christmas post too. Lots of great photos.
Have a good after-Christmas week!
be safe... mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Many thanks for this post.
Due to Covid our Christmas and Boxing Day was different this year from other years, but we enjoyed ourselves and ate some good food.
Sending my good wishes to you.
Christmas can be difficult for those unable to see friends or loved ones or perhaps are on their own.
Here's to a better 2021.
All the best Jan
What a fascinating page Elizabeth. I knew some of the info about "the boxes", but didn't know about the St. Steven story. Your page and post are fascinating, even if I am day late! Hope you had a wonderful holiday and enjoyed your Boxing Day. My husband did take some boxes to the dump today, so I guess that was a boxing day for us. Ha-ha-ha! This is also a great page for Tracey's challenge. Hugs-Erika
Fascinating research once again Elizabeth! I have always believed to to be that the servants were given gifts from their employers! Hugs, Chrisx
Wow! I had no idea. You always provide such interesting reads. Thanks dear lady.
I love it when you wrote about history. You have such a knack of making it so interesting. And your Boxing Day art piece is beautiful. Thanks for this one!
We've never observed Boxing Day, but we do take proper note of St. Stephen's Day and make sure to sing all the verses of that song :)
Thank you for this.
I MUCH prefer the idea of it being a day to share, and give to those who are in need to the shopping extravaganza it has turned into here. And Boxing Day is a public holiday in Australia as well.
Post a Comment