Merry Christmas...

[The Meromorph]

Boxing Day in England was the traditional day you gave servants and tradespeople their 'Christmas Boxes'. Even people without servants gave to the tradespeople, who delivered groceries, eggs, milk, bread, coal (all separate trades). I remember the story of my mother in law who was going to be out on the day the Coalman delivered his last load before Christmas (which was the day he expected his 'Christmas box' or 'tip'. So she left a note on the back door (coalmen delivered 'round the back' to the 'coal shed') saying 'Twenty bags please. Tip on step.' And left his money in an envelope on the back step.
He obviously misread the note, and was pissed at her, as she came home to find twenty hundredweight (112 pound) bags of coal tipped onto the back step. After her kids had shoveled the coal into the coalshed, she found the envelope and money still on the step.
She told the coalman about it the next time she saw him, but she didn't give him the money!

[Griffin NoName]

How times change. At the hotel I am staying at the staff were all working on Boxing Day (and all the other days) for the minimum wage - not even any time and a half, overtime, double time - nuthin, just the marvellous minimum wage that isn't actually enough to live on. And some of the "guests" drank in the bar last night right through to 6 a.m. and the staff aren't allowed to shut the bar until the last "guest" stops drinking (or passes out). (I should add this is hearsay as I wasn't there).

I saw no boxes, except one to post our opinions of the holiday company.

[Aggie]

Oi to the World!

[Sibling Lambicus the Toluous]

Boxing Day in England was the traditional day you gave servants and tradespeople their 'Christmas Boxes'. Even people without servants gave to the tradespeople, who delivered groceries, eggs, milk, bread, coal (all separate trades).

So, to sum up... Boxing Day became important because it was the first working day after Christmas.  Because it's such an important day, now nobody works on Boxing Day, thereby negating the reason for its importance.



These days in Canada, Boxing Day is traditionally celebrated by standing in ridiculously long lines and, until recently, by shopkeepers donating to the local government (in the form of fines for opening on a holiday).