What Do You Know About Boxing Day?
In Jamaica and several other countries around the world, the day after Christmas – December 26 is a secular holiday known as Boxing Day.
But how much do you know about Boxing Day?
Don’t let the name fool you:
Though it shares the name with a popular fist fighting sport, it actually has nothing to do with boxing.
Traditionally, Boxing Day is celebrated the day following Christmas Day, when servants and tradesmen would receive gifts, known as a “Christmas box”, from their bosses or employers
There are competing theories for the origins of the term, Boxing Day however, the Oxford English Dictionary gives the earliest attestations of the term as being from England in the 1830s, defining it as ‘the first week-day after Christmas-day, observed as a holiday on which post-men, errand-boys, and servants of various kinds expect to receive a Christmas-box’.
The term Christmas-box, meanwhile, dates back to the 17th century.
In Britain, it was a custom for tradespeople to collect “Christmas boxes” of money or presents on the first weekday after Christmas as thanks for good service throughout the year.
This custom is linked to an older English tradition: since they would have to wait on their masters on Christmas Day, the servants of the wealthy were allowed the next day to visit their families. The employers would give each servant a box to take home containing gifts, bonuses and sometimes leftover food.
The European tradition, which has long included giving money and other gifts to those who were needy and in service positions, has been dated to the Middle Ages, but the exact origin is unknown. It is believed to be in reference to the Alms Box placed in areas of worship to collect donations to the poor.
Nowadays Boxing Day has evolved and has become a day of indulgence. In places like Canada and the United Kingdom it has long been one of the biggest days for shopping and sporting events.
This year Jamaica celebrates Boxing Day on a Saturday though in many Commonwealth countries and former British dominions, if Boxing Day falls on a Saturday, the following Monday receives the designation.
According to the JIS, Director of Legal Services in the ministry, Camille Bennett-Campbell recently stated that according to the provisions of the Holidays (Public General) Act of 1895 — by which all public holidays are governed if a public holiday falls on a Saturday — that is the day it will be observed.
“That Act says that when Christmas Day falls on a Sunday, then the 26th will be Christmas Day and the following day will be Boxing Day. It makes no provision where Boxing Day falls on a Saturday for it to be celebrated on any other day,” she explained.
How do you spend Boxing Day?
Curated from Wikipedia