Boxing Day (Encore) - Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More

Summary

Everything Everywhere Daily: Boxing Day (Encore) – Detailed Summary

Episode Release Date: December 26, 2024
Host: Gary Arndt | Glassbox Media

Introduction to Boxing Day

In this encore episode of Everything Everywhere Daily, host Gary Arndt delves into the intriguing history and evolution of Boxing Day, a holiday predominantly celebrated in Commonwealth countries on December 26th—the day following Christmas. Gary begins by highlighting the peculiar nature of Boxing Day, noting its lack of a clear celebratory focus and the widespread uncertainty surrounding its origins.

Gary Arndt [00:00]: "It's a rather odd holiday in that it doesn't celebrate anything or any one in particular."

Early Perceptions and Misconceptions

Initially unfamiliar with Boxing Day himself, Gary shares his humorous confusion about the holiday's name, joking about the literal interpretation of "boxing" as related to the sport.

Gary Arndt [00:45]: "Did somebody really dedicate an entire day to punching each other in the middle of the ring?"

Through his travels, Gary encountered various explanations from different individuals, primarily Brits, Canadians, and Australians. These ranged from the physical act of boxing Christmas decorations into boxes to the notion of returning gifts—ideas that Gary found inconsistent and unconvincing.

Gary Arndt [03:20]: "One common explanation was that Boxing Day was the day that Christmas decorations were put back into boxes."

The Quest for the True Origin

Determined to uncover the authentic roots of Boxing Day, Gary explores both historical accounts and dictionary definitions. He discovers that Boxing Day is relatively modern compared to other holidays with ancient origins, with its first recorded use in print dating back to 1833 during Queen Victoria's reign.

Gary Arndt [07:15]: "The term refers to a Christmas box."

Understanding the "Christmas Box"

Gary delves into the concept of the "Christmas box," a gratuity or present given after Christmas to employees, servants, or tradespeople as a form of appreciation for their services throughout the year. This practice was especially prevalent in Victorian England's highly stratified society, where wealthy households employed numerous staff members.

Gary Arndt [09:40]: "A Christmas box was basically a tip given after Christmas."

He also explores alternative theories, such as the association with alms given to the poor during the Advent season, suggesting that the tradition may have evolved to encompass multiple forms of giving.

Gary Arndt [12:05]: "It's entirely possible that both theories are true in that the day of giving Christmas boxes to one group was later extended to the other group."

Evolution into a Modern Holiday

As economic conditions shifted, the original tradition of Christmas boxes waned, but Boxing Day persisted as an official holiday. The day retained its status largely due to its proximity to Christmas rather than its initial purpose. Gary notes that in many regions, Boxing Day serves more as a continuation of the festive period rather than a day with specific traditions.

Gary Arndt [16:50]: "Today, Boxing Day is really just an excuse to have another day off."

International Spread and Contemporary Celebrations

With the expansion of the British Empire, Boxing Day traditions spread to various countries, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Nigeria, and Singapore, among others. Each region adapted the holiday to fit its cultural context. For instance, South Africa refers to it as the Day of Goodwill.

Gary also highlights the contemporary significance of Boxing Day as a major shopping event, comparable to Black Friday in the United States. Sporting events, particularly football, soccer, and cricket matches, are also central to Boxing Day celebrations in the UK.

Gary Arndt [21:30]: "In the UK, it's become a popular day for sporting matches like football, soccer, and cricket."

Potential Adoption in the United States

Interestingly, Gary discusses a burgeoning movement to adopt Boxing Day in the United States. While awareness remains low among the general American populace, retail sectors see potential in leveraging Boxing Day as an additional shopping day complementing the existing after-Christmas sales.

Gary Arndt [24:10]: "It's usually just called an after Christmas sale currently, but there have been a few cases of people just actually calling it Boxing Day."

He mentions that Massachusetts recognizes Boxing Day as a state holiday, albeit not widely acknowledged or celebrated under its traditional name.

Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Gary wraps up the episode by summarizing the dual nature of Boxing Day: its historical roots in philanthropy and gratuity, juxtaposed with its modern incarnation as a day of leisure and commerce. He extends well-wishes to both newcomers and avid celebrants of Boxing Day, encouraging them to enjoy the day through shopping, sports, and traditional activities.

Gary Arndt [28:45]: "For those of you who do celebrate Boxing Day, I hope you enjoy your Boxing Day celebrations of going to the mall and watching sports on TV."

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Charles Daniel
Associate Producers: Benji Long and Cameron Keever

Gary concludes by acknowledging the support from Patreon subscribers and promoting community engagement through the Everything Everywhere Daily Facebook group and Discord server.

This comprehensive exploration by Gary Arndt offers listeners a thorough understanding of Boxing Day's origins, transformations, and current global manifestations, making it an insightful addition to the intellectually curious repertoire that Everything Everywhere Daily champions.

Transcript

Gary Arndt (0:00)

The following is an encore presentation of Everything Everywhere Daily Every year, primarily in Commonwealth countries, the day after Christmas is a legal holiday. It's a rather odd holiday in that it doesn't celebrate anything or any one in particular. Most people who celebrate the day have no clue what the origins of the holiday are, and many of the people who think they know the origins of the day are wrong. Learn more about Boxing Day and how the day after Christmas became a holiday on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. This episode is sponsored by Mint Mobile. After years of fine print contracts and getting ripped off by overpriced wireless providers, if we've learned anything is that there's Always a Catch. So when I heard that all Mint Mobile wireless plans are $15 a month. When you purchase a three month plan, I thought, what's the catch? Well, there isn't one. Mint Mobile's secret sauce is that they sell wireless services online. 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And if you want to give the gift of learning and knowledge this Christmas, you can't do better than Masterclass. Masterclass offers online classes from some of the most successful instructors in the world. In their fields. You can learn cooking from Gordon ramsay, conservation from Dr. Jane Goodall, disruptive entrepreneurship from Sir Richard Branson, mathematical thinking from Fields Medal winner Terrence Tao, and diplomacy from former Secretaries of State Madeleine Albright and Condoleezza Rice. You can access over 200 classes across 11 different categories. Masterclass always has great offers during the holidays, sometimes up to as much as 50% off. Head over to masterclass.com everywhere for the current offer. That's up to 50% off@masterclass.com everywhere. Once again, that's masterclass.com everywhere. Growing up as an American, Boxing Day just wasn't a thing. When I first heard about Boxing Day, I had no clue what boxing had to do with it. Did somebody really dedicate an entire day to punching each other in the middle of the ring? And if there was a Boxing Day, was there a wrestling day? And by the way, if so, that would be awesome. An entire day devoted to celebrating piledrivers and figure four leg locks is something that I could really get behind. It would be the one day a year you could superkick your best friend through a plate glass window and it would be socially acceptable and luchador mass would be totally in fashion. But I digress. As I began traveling the world, I was able to spend several boxing days in places that actually celebrated Boxing Day. I would ask people who celebrated Boxing Day, usually Brits, Canadians, or Australians, exactly what Boxing Day was about. The answers I got were all over the place. One common explanation was that Boxing Day was the day that Christmas decorations were put back into boxes. And at first glance, this seemed reasonable. There were boxes involved and it had something to do with Christmas. So it appeared to check out. However, I got different explanations from different people. Another explanation I received was that Boxing Day had to do with people putting gifts they received back into boxes so they could be returned. That didn't seem quite as legit as it seemed like a rather modern development. I even had one British guy tell me that Boxing Day was in fact named after the sweet science of pugilism. This explanation, despite my initial thoughts as a kid when I first heard of the holiday, didn't make any sense. So I went on a quest to discover the true meaning of Boxing Day. While Boxing Day itself isn't a religious holiday, December 26th has a religious feast day which is associated with it. Traditionally, December 26th was the feast of St. Stephen. St. Stephen is considered to be the first Christian martyr who was stoned to death after being tried for blasphemy sometime around the year 34. As it came immediately after Christmas, it was considered the traditional second of the 12 days of Christmas. St. Stephen's Day even makes the occasional appearance in Christmas carols. In the song Good King Wenceslaus, the first line is, good King Wenceslaus looked out on the feast of Stephen, which is December 26th. So, okay, December 26th has some sort of meaning that medieval people ascribe to it, but that still doesn't have anything to do with boxes. The truth, unlike many holidays with Ancient or even medieval origins is that Boxing Day is a relatively recent invention. The Oxford English Dictionary reports that the first usage of the word Boxing Day in print only dates back to 1833. Boxing Day then became popularized during the reign of Queen Victoria. The term refers to a Christmas box. Okay, then what. What is a Christmas box? The origin of the Christmas box probably dates back to the 18th century or earlier. I'll actually let the Oxford English Dictionary describe it. According to the oed, a Christmas box is a present or gratuity given at Christmas in Great Britain, usually confined to gratuities given to those who are supposed to have a vague claim upon the donor for services rendered to him as one of the general public by whom they are employed and paid, or as a customer of their legal employer. The undefined theory being that as they have done offices for this person for which he has not directly paid them, some direct acknowledgment is becoming at Christmas. So a Christmas box was basically a tip given after Christmas. So why is this associated with Christmas and not some other holiday like New Year's Day? Victorian England was an extremely economically stratified society. Very wealthy people could have had dozens of people working for them on their house staff. Even middle class people could hire a housekeeper. If you had a house staff, they probably would have to work on Christmas Day while your family had Christmas festivities the day after Christmas. Your servants would then have the day off so they could spend time with their families. The staff would be given boxes with money, gifts, and often leftovers from the Christmas meal. This tradition was eventually extended to other tradespeople and employees as a sort of end of the year bonus. There are other theories on the origin of Christmas boxes. Another theory which is similar is that the boxes refer to alms that were left at churches during the Advent season. The day after Christmas, the boxes would be given to the poor, hence Boxing Day. It's entirely possible that both theories are true in that the day of giving Christmas boxes to one group was later extended to the other group. Either way, it involved boxes with gifts being given to people the day after Christmas. Over time, economic conditions in Britain changed and the tradition of Christmas boxes died out. However, Boxing Day as a holiday in its own right stuck around. People still acknowledged the day as a day off, even if the original purpose behind it disappeared. It eventually became an official bank holiday and part of the calendar. As the British set out and colonized an enormous chunk of the world, they took the tradition of Boxing Day with them. Boxing Day is an official holiday in Canada. Australia, New Zealand, Nigeria, the former British colonies in the Caribbean, and Singapore. South Africa keeps the day as a holiday, but they now call it the Day of Goodwill. And likewise, many other European countries still have December 26 as a holiday, but they just refer to it as St. Stephen's Day. The fact that it's a holiday really has more to do with its proximity to Christmas than it does with the importance of St Stephen on the religious calendar. And in many countries they just informally call it Second Christmas. Today, Boxing Day is really just an excuse to have another day off. In the uk it's become a popular day for sporting matches like football, soccer and cricket. It has also become a huge shopping day. It has often been compared to Black Friday. In the United States, there are Boxing Day sales and most stores are open. In fact, for many countries with Boxing Day on the calendar, it's the biggest shopping day of the year, making the Black Friday comparison rather apt. While Boxing Day is usually held on December 26, it is often moved to December 27 if Christmas falls on a Saturday. Believe it or not, there is a small movement to adopt Boxing Day as a thing in the United States. To be fair, the vast majority of Americans still have no clue what Boxing Day is. However, there is a great deal of demand by retail outlets for yet another shopping day and Boxing Day fits the bill. It's usually just called an after Christmas sale currently, but there have been a few cases of people just actually calling it Boxing Day. And believe it or not, Boxing Day is a state holiday in Massachusetts. They don't call it Boxing Day in the calendar, but it's on the calendar. For those of you who didn't know anything about Boxing Day, well now you know. And for those of you who do celebrate Boxing Day, I hope you enjoy your Boxing Day celebrations of going to the mall and watching sports on tv. And also remember to sing your Boxing Day carols, trim the Boxing Day tree and eat the traditional Boxing Day sandwiches and have a very happy Boxing Day. The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The associate producers are Benji Long and Cameron Keever. I want to give a big shout out to everyone who supports the show over on Patreon, including the show's producers. Your support helps me put out a show every single day and also Patreon is currently the only place where Everything Everywhere Daily merchandise is available to the top tier of supporters. If you'd like to talk to other listeners of the show and members of the Completionist Club, you can join the Everything Everywhere Daily Facebook group or discord server links to everything are in the show notes.