why is Dec. 26 called Boxing day?

Answer 1

Boxing Day is a public holiday celebrated in the United Kingdom and most other Commonwealth countries on December 26, the day after Christmas Day

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

It was the day when people would give a present or Christmas 'box' to those who have worked for them throughout the year. This is still done in Britain for postmen and paper-boys - though now the 'box' is usually given before Christmas, not after.
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 26 December, 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 England 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 lockbox in which the donations were left.
Boxing Day was the day when the wren, the king of birds,[3] 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 by serving the master of the house and their family, they were given the following day off. As servants were kept away from their own families to work on a traditional religious holiday and were not able to celebrate Christmas Dinner, the customary benefit was to "box" up the leftover food from Christmas Day and send it away with the servants and their families. (Similarly, as the servants had the 26th off, the owners of the manor may have had to serve themselves pre-prepared, boxed food for that one day.) Hence the "boxing" of food became "Boxing Day".

In common usage, when 26 December falls on a Sunday, this is now referred to as Boxing Day[4] despite Boxing Day officially occurring on 27 December when the 26th is a Sunday, in order to retain it as an extra Bank Holiday.[5][6][7] In the latter half of the twentieth century in the United Kingdom, when 26 December was a Sunday it was referred to as Christmas Sunday, and "Boxing Day" in popular usage referred to the 27th.

In some Commonwealth countries, fixed-date holidays falling on Saturday or Sunday are often observed on the next weekday, so if Boxing Day falls on a Saturday then Monday 28 December is a public holiday; in the UK and other countries this is accomplished by Royal Proclamation.

If Christmas Day falls on a Sunday itself then the Boxing Day holiday is automatically on the following Monday, and no Royal Proclamation is required. In such a circumstance, a 'substitute bank holiday in lieu of Christmas Day' is declared for Tuesday 28 December, this being the next available working day - thus the Boxing Day holiday occurs before the substitute Christmas holiday.

Although the same legislation (Bank Holidays Act 1871) originally established the Bank Holidays throughout the British Isles, the holiday after Christmas was defined as Boxing Day in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and St Stephen's Day for The Republic Of Ireland (and now by a few people in Northern Ireland). St Stephen's Day is fixed as the 26 December.[8]

Answer 2

December 26 was traditionally known as St. Stephen's Day, after the first Christian martyr. It is now more commonly known as Boxing Day. This expression came about because money was collected in alms-boxes placed in churches during the festive season. This money was then distributed to the poor and needy after Christmas.
It is thought the Boxing Day was first observed in the Middle Ages. It found renewed popularity in the 19th Century when the lords and ladies of England presented gifts in boxes to their servants on 26 December in appreciation of the work they had done over the Christmas celebrations.

Answer 3

Boxing Day.
Many of us, even in some developed rural areas of our country celebrate this day without understanding its meaning and how it originated.

Encyclopedia Britannica says that the day after Christmas, the Feast of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, is better known as Boxing Day.

The term may come from the opening of church poor boxes that day; maybe from the earthenware boxes with which boy apprentices collected money at the doors of their masters’ clients.

continued at http://www.ippmedia.com/ipp/guardian/2005/12/26/56565.html

Answer 4

I have to disagree with all the answers given so far - ignoring the facetious ones about re-boxing your presents, it is nothing to do with church poor-boxes being opened. Rather, it dates back to the middle-ages. It was the day on which apprentices were allowed to go around the town with a 'box' seeking gifts of money for themselves. My grandfather, born in the latter part of the 19th century always referred ro his Christmas present to me as my 'Christmas box' (he usually gave me 10 shillings, or 50p, which he referred to as a 'half sovereign' )

Answer 5

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

Answer 6

The first weekday after Christmas when a box with money and/or gifts are given to service workers.

Answer 7

Because you have to box up all the useless crap you got for Christmas and return it to the store to afford to replenish the alcohol all your freeloader friends drank at your place in order to maintain a decent level of intoxication well into the new year. hows that?

Answer 8

Because when your husband gets you a vacuum cleaner for Christmas it's time to pull out the boxing gloves.

Answer 9

B'coz you wud have got a plenty of gift boxes and you wud be busy opening all of them

Answer 10

I think that's when they traditionally boxed up their gifts to return them to wal-mart. It should prolly be changed to bagging day in today's society.