Boxing Day
Charming custom never took hold on this side of the pond
British movies and TV shows are more popular than ever with American viewers. Especially, it seems, during the holiday season. There’s something about an English Christmas that stirs the spirit. All that tradition, from the days of Charles Dickens and Scrooge to “Love Actually” and “Last Christmas.”
For those of us who reside in the U.S., the day after Christmas can best be described as the time when we hit the stores to return ill-fitting or ill-advised gifts and take advantage of post-holiday sales.
But, as anyone who streams Acorn TV or Britbox knows, the day means something a bit more across the pond.
Or at least it did.
In the UK and some other countries, the 26th of December is known as Boxing Day. It is a public holiday and a time to remember with gifts or money those who have been of service during the past year.
There are many explanations as to how the holiday got it’s name. The most compelling, at least to the Oxford English Dictionary and so to us, stems from the old tradition of Christmas boxes in English shops. A clay box, much like piggy bank, would be set out and the shop’s owner, customers and visitors would put in coins to show appreciation for the staff. After Christmas, the box would be shattered and the bounty divided among the workers as a Christmas bonus.
Over the years, the tradition was expanded to include anyone whose efforts make our lives better and easier throughout the year, but who we do not routinely tip.
The milkman, for example, in the day when everyone had the milk delivered to their homes. Letter carriers, doormen, the newspaper delivery boy, trash haulers — even police officers and firefighters.
It’s charming custom. But like most of the world’s more charming customs, it is fast disappearing.
All around the English-speaking world, the day after Christmas has become “Americanized’ — known for more department store sales than generosity toward others. Sad, really. More commercialization of the holidays.
It’s probably too late to do anything about it. Timex have changed, people have changed.
It’s too bad, as well, that Boxing Day never took root in the U.S.
Sure, some make a point of giving Christmas cash or gifts to service workers they regularly encounter, but the custom has never become widespread.
Maybe Boxing Day will never be a holiday on this side of the pond, and maybe most will never embrace its spirit, but it would be a nice gesture today to at least thank those service workers who are in the trenches, day in and day out, making our lives easier.
And if you can afford a bit of cash or a small gift, that never hurts either.