Why is December 26 called 'Boxing Day'?

Answer 1

choose your favorite ;o)

There are disparate theories as to the origins of the term. The more common stories include:

In feudal times, Christmas was a reason for a gathering of extended families. All 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. After all the Christmas parties on December 26th, the lord of the estate would give practical goods such as cloth, grains, and tools to the serfs who lived on his land. Each family would get a box full of such goods the day after Christmas. Under this explanation, there was nothing voluntary about this transaction; the lord of the manor was obliged to supply these goods. Because of the boxes being given out, the day was called Boxing Day.
In Britain many years ago, it was common practice for the servants to carry boxes to their employers when they arrived for their day's work on the day after Christmas. Their employers would then put coins in the boxes as special end-of-year gifts. This can be compared with the modern day concept of Christmas bonuses. The servants carried boxes for the coins, hence the name Boxing Day.
In churches, it was traditional to open the church's donation box on Christmas Day, and the money in the donation box was to be distributed to the poorer or lower class citizens on the next day. In this case, the "box" in "Boxing Day" comes from that one gigantic lockbox in which the donations were left.
Boxing Day was the day when the wren, the king of birds[citation needed], was captured and put in a box and introduced to each household in the village when he would be asked for a successful year and a good harvest. See Frazer's Golden Bough.
Evidence can also be found in Wassail songs such as:
Where are you going ? said Milder to Malder,
Oh where are you going ? said Fessel to Foe,
I'm going to hunt the cutty wren said Milder to Malder,
I'm going to hunt the cutty wren said John the Rednose.
And what will you do wi' it ? said Milder to Malder,
And what will you do wi' it ? said Fessel to Foe,
I'll put it in a box said Milder to Malder,
I'll put it in a box said John the Rednose.
etc.
Because the staff had to work on such an important day as Christmas Day by serving the master of the house and their family, they were given the following day off. Since being kept away from their own families to work on a traditional religious holiday and not being able to celebrate Christmas Dinner, the customary benefit was to 'box' up the left over food from Christmas Day and send it away with the servants and their families. Hence the 'boxing' of food became 'boxing day'.

Answer 2

Its the day after Christmas when employers give employees presents or boxes ( or presents , usually boxed); thats an old tradition, and where the name of the day comes from ; the more salient one is the Military/sometimes social, tradition of swapping places in ranks, so a Sergeant will swap with a private, and roles will be reversed for the day. Some variants occur, its more British/Anglo in tradition, but the gist of it is a kind of present.

Answer 3

Go to the mall on this day. You will see! I'm mostly a nice person, but I almost got into it with a little old lady who stole a parking space from me, in broad daylight, and didn't even say excuse me!!!! Basically, its the busiest shopping day of the year after Christmas and people's tempers are high as the stores are crowded and people are literally fighting over just about everything, including parking spaces!

Answer 4

According to the CanadaInfo web site ("over 300 pages of information about Canada!") "….under Queen Victoria…December 26th became a holiday as boxes were filled with gifts and money for servants and tradespeople [!!]…. poor people carried empty boxes from door to door, and the boxes were soon filled with food, Christmas sweets, and money. Parents gave their children small gifts such as ORANGES, handkerchiefs, and socks

Answer 5

It's the day after Christmas. Try to returns or exchange gifts at a mall or store and you'll see what I means.

OR

Its means that the world can go back to fighting and killing each other since a day of peace is over.?

Answer 6

I was thinking the same thing as im looking at the calendar on my desk at work....i just did what any guy would do and draw a big boxing glove next to it. I actually box everyday, so "boxing day" is everyday!!

Answer 7

Beacause people didn't seem to get enought shopping in the first 3 months they celebrate Christmas so they have to go out and fight the crowds, yet again, to get more "stuff".

Really, I have no idea...

Answer 8

It's a holiday in Australia, I think. Could be Canada, but I'm pretty sure it's Australia.

Answer 9

England custom!@~

Answer 10

it doesnt have anything to do with sports