If you tell someone who is not a Commonwealth’s resident what is Boxing Day, he or she may be very confused. Why is it called Boxing Day after all? Does it have to do with the fighting sport, the box? Well, no, the holiday – also known as the St. Stephen’s Day – has that name due to the boxes that were (and still are!) removed from all rich people’s homes, after the Christmas Day; today the name of the tradition remains.
That day, december the 26th, the rich people used to exchange gifts with poor people, and the presents were placed into boxes, so that they were easier to carry; that is the origin of Boxing Day and, as it is normal, the meaning of Boxing Day has changed with the time. Just the name has arrived to us. Nowadays Boxing Day sales are almost as high as Christmas sales, and Commwealth’s societies have incorporated this holiday as a shopping holiday, which certainly was not the case at the beginning.
But the mistic which once stood behind the tradition can be recovered, if you try to foster solidarity, perhaps the Boxing Day 2009 would have a bit of the tradition it has lost; of course you may go shopping at St. Stephen’s Day, as well as you can go whenever you are in the mood to; but the point is that Boxing Day was once a tradition that today doesn’t exist, and that perhaps would do that celebration’s day much nicer...
jean 2008-12-25 10:39:21