Why is the 26th of December called “boxing day”?
Boxing Day is a holiday on December 26. It is observed in countries in the Commonwealth of Nations with a large Christian population. It is not an official holiday in the United States.
Boxing day is celebrated by giving money and gives to those who need it and are in service positions. It is called Boxing Day because churches would put metal boxes outside of their churches to collect gifts for the Feast of Saint Stephen. In the Victorian era, it was common for the tradesmen to collect their Christmas boxes in return for good service throughout the year.
Another place of potential origin includes an English tradition where landowners would give their servants the 26th off in order to ensure that their holidays ran smoothly. They received boxes containing gifts and leftover food.
It was traditionally the day when church alms boxes were opened and alms distributed to the poor. Alms-seekers also often went from house house to house with personal boxes, like piggy-banks. When one-to-one gifts became the norm, employers handed out ‘Christmas boxes’ – sums of money – to their workers, and the phrase came to mean any gift given in the festive season, especially to milkmen, dustmen, and others whose trade brought them regularly to people’s homes. The actual name Boxing Day only appears to have been coined in the 19th century, though the Romans also had a money-giving custom at this time of year. Sometimes food was doled out instead of money. Large households sent their leftovers to the poor, and in days of huge meals and wastage this was often a substantial amount. At Bampton-in-the-Bush, Oxfordshire, the parish’s three vicars served St Stephen’s Breakfast – boiled beef and beer – to all comers. Collecting alms on Boxing Day was sometimes known as Stephening, a custom
