Boxing Day - Please Clarify!

@moffittjc (121736)
Gainesville, Florida
December 26, 2015 7:40pm CST
I am aware that many countries that were former colonies of the United Kingdom, or who were once part of the British Empire, celebrate Boxing Day, which takes place on 26 December, the day after Christmas. Can my friends who live in countries who celebrate Boxing Day clarify something for me? Do you celebrate BOTH Christmas Day and Boxing Day? And if so, do you open gifts on both days? Just curious as to how both holidays are celebrated, especially when they are back-to-back! I fully understand the history behind Boxing Day, but was wondering how it is celebrated nowadays. Is it a holiday everyone celebrates, or is still mostly just servants and tradesmen and workers of that sort?
17 people like this
18 responses
@kevin1877uk (36988)
27 Dec 15
Yeah Boxing day is a public holiday but seeing it fall on Saturday this year the public holiday is Monday.
5 people like this
@kevin1877uk (36988)
27 Dec 15
@moffittjc Christmas day for gifts, Boxing day is normally a sports day, Football and Rugby etc. Oh and start of sales too.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (121736)
• Gainesville, Florida
27 Dec 15
I see that Christmas is more the religious holiday and Boxing Day more the secular/public holiday, but on which day does everyone open gifts?
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@moffittjc (121736)
• Gainesville, Florida
27 Dec 15
@kevin1877uk Thank you! I did look it up on Wikipedia and it really gave me a good explanation of the holiday, but it didn't clarify how the gift-giving was handled alongside Christmas here in the modern times!
3 people like this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
27 Dec 15
As you suggested it is just a traditional holiday that has been handed down over the years. 26th December would have been the actual date on which this practice took place due to the household staff having worked over Christmas, but nowadays the actual date is academic. Of course people are so accustomed to the day now that it would be difficult to change it. Imagine trying to move Christmas Day in order to separate the two.
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@moffittjc (121736)
• Gainesville, Florida
27 Dec 15
So do you celebrate both as separate holidays, or has it kind of morphed into one big holiday? And on which day do you give/receive presents?
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@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
27 Dec 15
@moffittjc On Christmas Day. The Boxing day tradition was solely directed towards the household staff of large Stately Manors and a few tradesmen. We take both holidays together, but nowadays Boxing Day is simply viewed as an extension of Christmas.
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@moffittjc (121736)
• Gainesville, Florida
27 Dec 15
@Asylum Ahhh, thank you! That makes perfect sense!
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@jstory07 (140043)
• Roseburg, Oregon
27 Dec 15
I never heard of boxing day until i saw posts on this site. not wure what it is all about.
4 people like this
@Marcyaz (35316)
• United States
27 Dec 15
07 is a National holiday in London and evidently in Canada also. @jstory
@Marcyaz (35316)
• United States
28 Dec 15
@tallawah Thanks as I had forgotten about those @tallawah
@moffittjc (121736)
• Gainesville, Florida
27 Dec 15
Being a resident of Florida, we get a lot of Canadian snowbirds who spend time in our state, so I've always heard of Boxing Day, and I knew when it was, but I always thought countries that celebrated Boxing Day didn't celebrate Christmas. Not sure why I thought that, but for some reason I thought it was one or the other, not both. But apparently both holidays can be celebrated back-to-back.
2 people like this
@LadyDuck (472087)
• Switzerland
27 Dec 15
We celebrate the 26th of December in many European countries. We do not celebrate this day as Boxing Day, but as St. Stephen's Day. It's an official holiday to celebrate the first Christian martyr (the protomartyr). St. Stephen.
3 people like this
@LadyDuck (472087)
• Switzerland
27 Dec 15
@MALUSE In Italy the day after Christmas has always been a Catholic Holiday. St. Stephen Protomartyr. According to Wikipedia it is celebrated in Austria "Stephanitag is a public holiday in mainly Catholic Austria" and in the adjacent regions of Bavaria. It is celebrated here in Switzerland too.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121736)
• Gainesville, Florida
27 Dec 15
@LoriAMoore I know, isn't this pretty cool how we all learn from each other, and about each other's cultures and traditions? This is the great stuff they don't teach us in school! It's nice to be able to hear about things like this firsthand from our myLot friends!
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@moffittjc (121736)
• Gainesville, Florida
27 Dec 15
I was reading about St. Stephen last night on Wikipedia! It's very interesting how so many holidays that started out as religious days have turned into secular holidays.
3 people like this
@paigea (36315)
• Canada
27 Dec 15
It has pretty much become an extension of Christmas. A day to travel home; see the people you couldn't see on Christmas; etc. My parents used it as a day to box up things to take to the less fortunate. - Food Bank, etc.
5 people like this
@moffittjc (121736)
• Gainesville, Florida
27 Dec 15
That is a wonderful way to spend Boxing Day!
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27 Dec 15
that sounds like a good tradition @paigea !
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@whiteream (8567)
• United States
27 Dec 15
That is a great way to spend boxing day. Helping poeple
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@fishtiger58 (29820)
• Momence, Illinois
27 Dec 15
Glad you posted this discussion, I have been confused about Boxing day too.
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@moffittjc (121736)
• Gainesville, Florida
27 Dec 15
Based on the responses I'm getting, I want to know why Boxing Day hasn't caught on in the United States! Us Americans are missing out a way to extend Christmas one additional day! lol
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@fishtiger58 (29820)
• Momence, Illinois
27 Dec 15
@moffittjc I'm not sure it will ever catch on here.
@Marcyaz (35316)
• United States
27 Dec 15
From what my friend in England has told me Boxing day is a public Holiday with no presents involved. The Post Office and places like that are closed in honor of Boxing day so that means that only Christmas is when presents are opened.
@Marcyaz (35316)
• United States
28 Dec 15
@moffittjc Yes, I would imagine so but always nice to have a day off work for whatever reason.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121736)
• Gainesville, Florida
27 Dec 15
Several people commented that the day is now mostly used either to travel to visit family, or as a sporting day for soccer and rugby matches. I guess it just depends on where you live. But you're right, it is considered a public holiday in those countries. Probably not much different than say Labor Day or Martin Luther King Day here in the States. Just another day off from work!
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@Drosophila (16571)
• Ireland
28 Dec 15
Boxing Day is so named by opening gift boxes. In Ireland it's called St Stephens day and celebrated. Xmas eve is also celebrated massively here, so it's a 3 day event!
@moffittjc (121736)
• Gainesville, Florida
28 Dec 15
Thanks for sharing about how the holiday is celebrated in Ireland! I've had several people comment on it being called St. Stephens Day! I guess it just depends on what country you are in! In some places it's St. Stephens Day, in other places it's Boxing Day!
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@Drosophila (16571)
• Ireland
30 Dec 15
@moffittjc Yep St Stephen's day is huge, like nothing opens ever here. but in UK, boxing day some shops would open and do sales.
@moffittjc (121736)
• Gainesville, Florida
30 Dec 15
@Drosophila From what little I have read about St. Stephens Day, it is more celebrated by Catholics than by Protestants, so it would make sense that it would be a bigger holiday for Ireland than it would be for the UK. But I have noticed that several people have mentioned they are of a Protestant faith and also celebrate St. Stephens Day, so it not only just a Catholic holiday.
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27 Dec 15
I have never known much about Boxing Day either! Good question! I'll go read your answers.
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@moffittjc (121736)
• Gainesville, Florida
27 Dec 15
You mean Boxing Day isn't the holiday dedicated to Muhammed Ali to celebrate him being the greatest fighter who ever lived? lol
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@moffittjc (121736)
• Gainesville, Florida
27 Dec 15
@jillybean1222 You know how ignorant us Americans are! I'm sure millions of us think that is what Boxing Day is! lol
27 Dec 15
@moffittjc I wouldn't be surprised if that were what some folks thought. :-)
@Poppylicious (11133)
28 Dec 15
I have never 'celebrated' Boxing Day. It's just an extension to Christmas Day! We can eat more, drink more, watch more rubbish on the telly, visit more relatives, open more presents from those relatives, go to football matches ... Most shops are open, but I have never been shopping on Boxing Day. I have had to work though, when I worked in retail. That was 'Yikes!'
@moffittjc (121736)
• Gainesville, Florida
29 Dec 15
Thanks for the clarification. It seems the holiday is celebrated slightly different in each country that recognizes Boxing Day, but I seem to like how it is celebrated in England! I could sure use an extra holiday after Christmas just so I can recuperate!
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@moffittjc (121736)
• Gainesville, Florida
30 Dec 15
@Poppylicious I wish we would follow your lead here in America with these bank holidays! If we have something like Christmas fall on a weekend, then so be it, we just have that day as a holiday and nothing more. They won't count the following Monday as a day off to make up for the holiday falling on a weekend!
29 Dec 15
@moffittjc The best bit is when Boxing Day falls on a weekend. We get the Monday off too. And when Christmas Day and Boxing Day fall on Saturday and Sunday we get the Monday and Tuesday as Bank Holidays. Whoop! *grin*
@Morleyhunt (21744)
• Canada
28 Dec 15
In our family, Christmas is for attending church, having a meal and opening a few gifts. Boxing Day, the entire family gathers for brunch followed by gifts for the children.
@moffittjc (121736)
• Gainesville, Florida
28 Dec 15
Thanks for sharing how your family celebrates Christmas and Boxing Day! Sounds like a wonderful time!
@andriaperry (117157)
• Anniston, Alabama
27 Dec 15
I am thinking its just Christmas day for the servants to spend with their families. But they call it boxing day so not to mix up the rich and poor.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (121736)
• Gainesville, Florida
27 Dec 15
In the old days, that's pretty much what it was. I think over the centuries it's morphed into a more widespread holiday, so now it is celebrated by most people instead of just by the servants and tradesmen.
@VivaLaDani13 (60794)
• Perth, Australia
15 May 17
@moffittjc You know....26 years old...I still have no idea what the heck Boxing Day is.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121736)
• Gainesville, Florida
15 May 17
So Boxing Day is not celebrated in Australia? How in the world is it celebrated in England and Canada, but not in the United Staes or Australia? lol
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@moffittjc (121736)
• Gainesville, Florida
15 May 17
@VivaLaDani13 Oh, so then it's just us stupid Americans who don't follow the rest of the British Empire in celebrating Boxing Day. It figures. When we rebelled against England, we really rebelled! haha
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• Perth, Australia
15 May 17
@moffittjc We have it here. But I don't know where it started, when or why. All I do know is that it's a public holiday for us.
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• Quezon City, Philippines
27 Dec 15
hmmm boxing day? never heard of it..so what do you guys exactly do? are there parades or tournaments? what is the holiday all about. excuse my ignorance :)
@moffittjc (121736)
• Gainesville, Florida
27 Dec 15
It's like Christmas, where gifts are given. It's not really celebrated in the United States, it's more common in Europe and countries that were once part of the British Empire.
@moffittjc (121736)
• Gainesville, Florida
27 Dec 15
@petiksmdoe47 No, not at all! It started out as a gift-giving holiday. If you scroll down and read through the comments, you can see a little bit about the history of the holiday.
• Quezon City, Philippines
27 Dec 15
@moffittjc whats the history behind its celebration? is it the boxing that im thinking about? like boxing sports?
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
27 Dec 15
Boxing day is a mystery to me as I am an American in the US so I just celebrate Christmas.I know that boxing day is a British holiday. gather someone gves boxes and someone receives the same?
@moffittjc (121736)
• Gainesville, Florida
27 Dec 15
Before I broadened my horizons and actually looked it up, I thought Boxing Day was strictly a Canadian holiday! lol
@softbabe44 (5816)
• Vancouver, Washington
27 Dec 15
I haven't heard of what it means either.
@moffittjc (121736)
• Gainesville, Florida
27 Dec 15
Back in the old days, servants and tradesmen had to work on Christmas Day to serve the elite and wealthy people, so they missed out on celebrating Christmas with their families. So, to make up for it, the wealthy people would give their servants the day after Christmas off from work so they could be with their families. And then they would also give them a "box" of goodies (either bonus pay, clothes, food, etc) to show their appreciation for their service throughout the year. Hence, it become known as "Box Day" and later "Boxing Day." Over time, the holiday morphed into its modern version, where it has mostly become an extended part of Christmas. In some countries, Boxing Day has become their big day of sales, similar to our Black Friday. Obviously, the holiday is a little different from country to country, but I think I covered the gist of the holiday!
1 person likes this
• United States
30 Dec 15
I was kind of bewildered as to what Boxing Day is so thanks to everyone who explained it in their responses
@whiteream (8567)
• United States
27 Dec 15
Great question because I don't know anything about it myself.
@moffittjc (121736)
• Gainesville, Florida
27 Dec 15
I learned quite a bit about the holiday tonight by reading up on it on Wikipedia. I just wasn't sure if gifts were given on both Christmas Day AND Boxing Day, since they were only a day apart from each other. But many of our English and Canadian friends have enlightened us!
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