What's Boxing Day About?
- 3 years ago
You probably heard about your Canadian neighbors staying home after Christmas while you’re back at work. Well, this is because on the 26th on former and current British colonies, it’s an official holiday. Jealous, right?
It’s called Boxing Day because of the ancient tradition of gifts given to servants on the day after Christmas. Indeed, servants had to wait on their masters on Christmas and were allowed to visit their families the next day. Employers would give them boxes to take home containing gifts or even leftover food.
It’s much like Friday after Thanksgiving in the US. Boxing Day in the UK is a major shopping day, a massive number of shoppers attracted by post-holiday sales. It was the biggest shopping day until it fell into second place after Black Friday.
It’s a government-mandated holiday in the UK and former colonies, and if it falls on a weekend, the following Monday becomes a non-working day. Now you wish you'd live in the UK, right?
It’s called Boxing Day because of the ancient tradition of gifts given to servants on the day after Christmas. Indeed, servants had to wait on their masters on Christmas and were allowed to visit their families the next day. Employers would give them boxes to take home containing gifts or even leftover food.
It’s much like Friday after Thanksgiving in the US. Boxing Day in the UK is a major shopping day, a massive number of shoppers attracted by post-holiday sales. It was the biggest shopping day until it fell into second place after Black Friday.
It’s a government-mandated holiday in the UK and former colonies, and if it falls on a weekend, the following Monday becomes a non-working day. Now you wish you'd live in the UK, right?