Yesterday was Boxing Day — it lands on December 26 every year. It’s a day for giving, especially to the less fortunate. It’s the day after Christmas — of course it’s not as widely celebrated as Christmas here in the U.S., but Boxing Day is celebrated all over the world — Australia, Austria, canada, Germany, Greenland, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Kenya, New Zealand, Norway Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and others celebrate it as a special day.
In South Africa, Boxing Day is known as the “Day of Goodwill” — In Ireland, it is known as “Saint Stevens Day,” but it’s also sometimes referred to as Wren Day, a nod to an old tradition in which poor children would kill a wren, then sell the feathers to neighbors for good luck. When it is celebrated today, the wren is fake.
And in some European countries, it is known as “Christmas II” or “Second Christmas Day.”
In Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the UK, Boxing Day is the heaviest shopping day of the year.
No one really knows where the name “Boxing Day” got its name. Many historians think Boxing Day’s name is derived from the church practice of opening alms boxes the day after Christmas and distributing money to the poor. Historically, British employers followed the church’s lead by giving workers and servants gifts or cash on December 26. Another thought is that the “box” refers to the boxes of gifts employers gave to their servants on the day after Christmas — in wealthy households, servants were often required to work on Christmas Day, but give the day after off to celebrate the holiday on their own. All good stories…. but no one knows for sure.
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