Here in Germany we just call it the 1st and 2nd Christmas Day, but in some countries of the Commonwealth the 26th is called Boxing Day.
I had heard the name long before the Internet existed, but never bothered to look it up. I have to admit, however, that I never thought of "boxes" although that would have been logical around Christmas. I always had boxing on my mind which may not be that wrong anymore today because I read that nowadays it's a big shopping holiday with price reductions in those countries, and we know how people are with big sales! ;-)
Originally, Boxing Day seems to have been about boxes although - as I have mentioned before - sometimes the exact origin is somewhere hidden in the past. The term was first used in Victorian times.
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It
may be about the alms boxes put up in churches for donations which were
opened on this day to distribute the money among the poor.
It may be
about servants who didn't get the 25th off as they had to wait on their
employers celebrating Christmas, but who got gifts on the 26th and had
the day off to celebrate their own Christmas with the family.
And it
was an occasion to give a bonus to service people or tradesmen as a
thank for good work throughout the year. Nowadays, donations are usually
collected during the days leading up to Christmas and bonuses are
given before Christmas as well.
The 26th is also Saint Stephen's Day. Saint Stephen, remembered as the first Christian martyr, is also the patron saint of horses (and more), so Boxing Day has also become a day of sporting events like horse races, foxhunting (nothing sporting about that in my opinion), and rugby.
Source:
Britannica
This is the last day of the
advent calendar and I will probably not back here before the New Year.
Thank you if you have been following me through these 26 days, I hope
you had a little fun.
Now let me wish you that the days after Christmas will be peaceful ones for you, too. Take care and behave yourselves! ;-)
Really enjoyed your posts. Funny thing about boxing day. When I was a kid, I thought it meant boxing like in the ring, with men and gloves! And I was so confused because I could not figure out why we would celebrate that kind of thing. Never thought to ask but did finally learn the actual meaning around the age of 20. LOL Merry Merry and happiest of holidays. Hope your new year brings good fortune.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you did, thank you!
DeleteMay your new year be full of happiness and joy ... and a lot of creepy! :-D
By the way, I never knew, either. For the longest time I didn't even know there was something like "Boxing Day" because we didn't have that here and then it took me some time to hear about the actual meaning.
You made me laugh with your comment about people shopping the big sales. It made me think of people boxing (fighting) over the things they were trying to buy. In reality, that is not so far from the truth! Cat, may the New Year bring peace and contentment and may we enjoy little things like making our jewelry, showing off what we create, sharing our knowledge and learning from each other and continued friendship which I treasure the most of all. Happy New Year, sweet girl!
ReplyDeleteI only remember the winter and summer end sales we used to have here in Germany. Absolutely crazy!!
DeleteHappy New Year, my dear! I hope we'll be keeping our tradition of "listening" to each other and lifting one another up when needed and be there from afar.