Saturday, December 26, 2009
Boxing Day
In Britain and many Commonwealth countries, Boxing Day, December 26, is a legal holiday. The term is commonly attributed to the parish church alms boxes which were opened on December 26 and distributed to the poor.
However, the term may go as far back as medieval times when earthenware boxes were kept by English servants and apprentices for the purpose of begging for gratuities. These boxes were often rudely made with a slit cut in the top to admit the coins. At the end of the day, the boxes were broken ~ like piggy banks.
It was the custom for English employees to solicit tips during the Christmas season from their employer as well as those people with whom their employer did business. As early as the 15th century, this practice had become a nuisance and in the 7th year of King Henry the Fifth, it was ordered that "no valet, or other sergeant of the Mayor [of London], Sheriffs, or City, should in future beg or require of any person, of any rank, degree, or condition whatsoever, any moneys, under colour of an oblation, or in any other way, on pain of losing his office."
(Comment: Interesting, the evolution to our modern-day frenzy of half-priced merchandise and long lineups of frantic shoppers. I am trying to sort that one out in my mind.)
Source: Christmas Planning and Memory Book, Tree Communications Inc., 1981.
The World Encyclopedia of Christmas, Gerry Bowler, McClelland & Stewart Ltd., 2000.
However, the term may go as far back as medieval times when earthenware boxes were kept by English servants and apprentices for the purpose of begging for gratuities. These boxes were often rudely made with a slit cut in the top to admit the coins. At the end of the day, the boxes were broken ~ like piggy banks.
It was the custom for English employees to solicit tips during the Christmas season from their employer as well as those people with whom their employer did business. As early as the 15th century, this practice had become a nuisance and in the 7th year of King Henry the Fifth, it was ordered that "no valet, or other sergeant of the Mayor [of London], Sheriffs, or City, should in future beg or require of any person, of any rank, degree, or condition whatsoever, any moneys, under colour of an oblation, or in any other way, on pain of losing his office."
(Comment: Interesting, the evolution to our modern-day frenzy of half-priced merchandise and long lineups of frantic shoppers. I am trying to sort that one out in my mind.)
Source: Christmas Planning and Memory Book, Tree Communications Inc., 1981.
The World Encyclopedia of Christmas, Gerry Bowler, McClelland & Stewart Ltd., 2000.
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