Do you observe "Boxing Day"?

What IS Boxing day?

http://www.web-holidays.com/boxing/ says:

In England a long time ago…

"Servants were required to work on Christmas. They were responsible for making the holiday run smoothly for wealthy landowners. They were allowed to take leave on December 26th and visit their families. The employers gave each servant a box containing gifts and bonuses. In addition, around the 800s' churches opened their alms boxes (boxes where people place monetary donations) and distributed the contents to poor."

But http://www.snopes.com/holidays/christmas/boxing.asp says:

"The holiday's roots can be traced to Britain, where Boxing Day is also known as St. Stephen's Day. Reduced to the simplest essence, its origins are found in a long-ago practice of giving cash or durable goods to those of the lower classes. Gifts among equals were exchanged on or before Christmas Day, but beneficences to those less fortunate were bestowed the day after.

And that's about as much as anyone can definitively say about its origin because once you step beyond that point, it's straight into the quagmire of debated claims and dueling folklorists. Which, by the way, is what we're about to muddy our boots with."


When we acquired some English friends many years ago, we began to observe Boxing Day. Christmas is pretty much for family, and the next day we all gather at someone's house to decompress and enjoy friends.

In the U.S., Boxing Day is that day when you box up the Christmas gifts that you don't like so that you can stand in line for hours returning them.

Most people celebrate Boxing Day. :evilgrin:

day after Thanksgiving off, but that we don't observe Boxing Day. I think it's a lovely custom, and it means more food for me!

They do it as an old fashioned stand-up cocktail party with eggnog and heavy snacks. The only bow to boxing day is that they have a couple of cardboard boxes at the front door where you can leave non-perishable food for the "needy." The contrast between the affluence of the house and the boxes of canned goods is embarrassing.

For me, it's a bad day for a party. A day I really want to hole up and see nobody.

(A message from Scrouge.)

It's my birthday! :bounce:

-chef-