Boxing Day? What??
We know most of our customers are American so there are a few things we celebrate that you don’t and we thought you might like to know about one in particular….Boxing Day….December 26th!
First off - it has nothing to do with the sport boxing....but like most traditions surrounding Christmas it has everything to do with the Victorians and became a really big date and National Holiday in Great Britain in the 1800’s
The actual name comes from the fact that during Queen Victoria’s era on the throne, fancy households would give a ‘Christmas box’ to their servants as a thank you for their service that year.
Usually because the servants were needed on Christmas Day these boxes were given the day after when they were allowed a day off work and go home to share their Christmas boxes with their families.
But actually if you look back in time it goes way way back and was first mentioned in the English Oxford Dictionary as far back as 1743.
26th December also has religious connections and eg in Ireland and Spain it is called St Stephens Day! In some European countries like Germany, Poland, Hungary and Netherlands it is celebrated as the second Christmas Day!
Churches also played a huge part in the creation of Boxing Day - collecting money throughout the year in boxes from church goers which they would then hand out at Christmas to the poor - usually on 26th December.
Its still a public holiday in the UK and if it falls on a weekend the country has an extra holiday on the Monday to celebrate it! It’s also celebrated in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and most other Commonwealth countries.
But it’s NOT a date America recognises - maybe you should! Who would say no to another day off?!
These days, Boxing Day is regarded as a time to spend with family and friends, particularly those you weren't able to see on Christmas Day. It usually includes getting together for meals, drinking at pubs, or simply relaxing at home and enjoying the day off.
It’s very much seen as a day to overindulge on Christmas leftovers. Families might invite guests over for a casual lunch featuring baked ham, Christmas cake, turkey sandwiches, roasted vegetables and other festive foods enjoyed the day before.
There are some big traditions on Boxing Day that have evolved over the years - one is that it's very much seen as a Football day (or in the US you would call it soccer).
Before the days of television in the UK, a full list of soccer matches for fans to attend after they had eaten Christmas dinner.
During the 1950’s however, attitudes towards playing sports on Christmas changed, television became the thing to watch after dinner and the last football match to take place on Christmas occurred in 1957.
Since then, Boxing Day has become the time for sports fans to get their fix.
The other big thing that happens nowadays is shopping. Similar to Black Friday in the US , it is HUGE. In fact it's predicted that this year more than half the UK population will look for online sales from midnight Christmas Day or spend hours in line to snag some of the best discounts of the season.
Since countries like the UK and Canada also celebrate Black Friday, Boxing Day shopping has become slightly less popular in recent years, but is still a hugely important day.
And so welcome to our Boxing Day sale…70% off for 48hrs from Midnight Christmas Day - giving you the chance to join in …let’s face it , you've been celebrating Boxing Day for years without realising when you think about all that left over food and games you've been enjoying on 26th!
Happy Boxing Day!
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