What is Boxing Day on December 26?

Actually, Boxing Day is not what you surmise, because it's not about people punching each other's proverbial lights out in a ring (a sport that I find appalling anyway, but that's another story) nor is it about retailers coming up with an excuse to foist yet more shoddy merchandise on us with post-Christmas sales.

In fact, traditionally Boxing Day is a day where you give cash or gifts to your employees, the poor, or, if you're wealthy, people of a lower social class than you. Given that last bit, it should be no surprise that it's primarily celebrated in the British Commonwealth (e.g., England, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, etc) on the day immediately after Christmas, December 26th.

What's interesting is that Boxing Day actually dates back from the Middle Ages, when there was - perhaps - a more dramatic class distinction between the haves and the have nots. In that sense, it's one of the oldest holidays celebrated on the calendar.

There's also a lot of disagreement in the online references whether Boxing Day and St. Stephen's Day are the same holiday or not. St. Stephen was the first Christian martyr, stoned to death shortly after Jesus was crucified, and a holiday remembering his death is primarily celebrated in Ireland, where, for obscure reasons, people hunt and kill small birds called wren. Weird way to remember a martyrs death, I'd say!

But why is it called "boxing" day? There are a surprising number of different theories about that too, but the most likely in my view is that the "box" referenced is actually the tithing box in church. Circulated during Christmas services, the contents of the box would be shared with the needy on the following day, December 26th.

Additional material on Boxing Day and St. Stephen can be found at wikipedia, Woodlands Jr. School, Snopes, and the North Boston Library Exchange.