Boxing Day
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| Boxing Day | |
|---|---|
| Observed by | Commonwealth of Nations, Hong Kong, Germany |
| Type | Bank Holiday / Public Holiday |
| Date | 26 December (or 27 or 28 December) |
| Related to | St. Stephen's Day |
- Christmas box redirects here; it may also refer to shrubs of the genus Sarcococca.
Boxing Day is a bank and public holiday in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Germany, Greenland, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Nigeria and countries in the Commonwealth of Nations with a mainly Christian population. In South Africa this public holiday is now known as the Day of Goodwill. Though it is not an official holiday in the United States, the name "Boxing Day" for the day after Christmas has some currency among Americans, particularly those that live near the Canada – United States border.
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[edit] Etymology
The name derives from the tradition of giving seasonal gifts, on the day after Christmas, to less wealthy people and social inferiors, which was later extended to various workpeople such as labourers and servants.
The traditional recorded celebration of Boxing Day has long included giving money and other gifts to charitable institutions, the needy and people in service positions. The European tradition has been dated to the Middle Ages, but the exact origin is unknown and there are some claims that it goes back to the late Roman/early Christian era.
In the United Kingdom it certainly became a custom of the nineteenth century Victorians for tradesmen to collect their 'Christmas boxes' or gifts in return for good and reliable service throughout the year on the day after Christmas. [1].
The establishment of Boxing Day as a defined public Holiday under the legislation that created the UK's Bank Holidays started the separation of 'Boxing Day' from the 'Feast of St Stephen' and today it is almost entirely a secular holiday with a tradition of shopping and post Christmas sales starting.
[edit] Public holiday
Boxing Day is traditionally celebrated on 26 December, St. Stephen's Day, the day after Christmas Day.[2][3] Unlike St. Stephen's Day, Boxing Day is a secular holiday but is always on 26 December: the public holiday is generally moved to the following Monday if 26 December is a Saturday. If 25 December is a Saturday or Sunday then both the Monday and Tuesday may be public holidays. However, the date of observance of Boxing Day varies between countries.
In Ireland—when it was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland—the UK's Bank Holidays Act 1871 established the feast day of St Stephen as a non-moveable public holiday on 26 December. Since Partition, the name "Boxing Day" is used only by the authorities in Northern Ireland (which remained part of the United Kingdom). Their Boxing Day is a moveable public holiday in line with the rest of the United Kingdom.
The Banking and Financial Dealings Act of 1971 established "Boxing Day" as a public holiday in Scotland. In the Australian state of South Australia, 26 December is a public holiday known as Proclamation Day.
[edit] Calendar
In the countries that observe this holiday, 26 December is commonly referred to both as Boxing Day and as St. Stephen's Day, no matter what day of the week it occurs.[4] However, in some countries, holidays falling on Saturday or Sunday are observed on the next weekday. Boxing Day cannot be on a Sunday, that day being the officially recognised day of worship, so traditionally it was the next working day of the week following Christmas Day, (i.e. any day from Monday to Saturday).
In recent times, this tradition has been either forgotten or ignored. Most people consider 26 December to be Boxing Day even when it falls on a Sunday. The last year, 26 December was called Christmas Sunday in the United Kingdom and Canada was 1993. The last time the date fell on a Sunday (1999), it was known as Boxing Day.
If Boxing Day falls on a Saturday, then Monday 28 December is declared a bank or public holiday. In the United Kingdom and some other countries, this is accomplished by Royal Proclamation. In some Canadian provinces, Boxing Day is a statutory holiday[5] that is always celebrated on 26 December. In Canadian provinces where Boxing Day is a statutory holiday, and it falls on a Saturday or Sunday, compensation days are given in the following week.[5]
If Boxing Day falls on a Sunday, then Christmas Day would be on a Saturday, so in countries where these are both bank or public holiday, the Statutory Holiday for Christmas is moved to Monday December 27 and the Statutory Holiday for Boxing Day is moved to Tuesday December 28.[6]
If Christmas Day falls on a Sunday, then Boxing Day is on Monday 26 December, and no Royal Proclamation is required. In such a circumstance, a 'substitute bank holiday in the place of Christmas Day' is declared for Tuesday 27 December, so the Boxing Day holiday occurs before the substitute Christmas holiday.
[edit] Legality
Although the same legislation—the Bank Holidays Act 1871—originally established the bank holidays throughout the United Kingdom, the day after Christmas was defined as Boxing Day in England, Scotland and Wales, and the feast day of St Stephen in Ireland.[6](Note that a 'substitute bank holiday in place of 26th December' is only possible in Northern Ireland, reflecting the legal difference in that St. Stephen's Day does not automatically shift to the Monday in the same way as Boxing Day.)
[edit] Shopping
In Canada,[7] New Zealand, the United Kingdom,[8] and some states of Australia,[9] Boxing Day is primarily known as a shopping holiday, much as the United States treats the day after Thanksgiving. It is a time where shops have sales, often with dramatic price decreases. For many merchants, Boxing Day has become the day of the year with the greatest revenue.
Many retailers open very early (typically 5 am or even earlier) and offer doorbuster deals and loss leaders to draw people to their stores. It is not uncommon for long queues to form early in the morning of 26 December, hours before the opening of shops holding the big sales, especially at big-box consumer electronics retailers.[7] Once inside, the shoppers often rush and grab, as many stores have a limited quantity of big draw or deeply discounted items.[10] Because of the shoulder-to-shoulder crowds, many choose to stay home and avoid the hectic shopping experience. The local media often cover the event, mentioning how early the shoppers began queueing up, providing video of shoppers standing in line and later leaving with their purchased items.[11] The Boxing Day sales have the potential for customer stampedes, injuries and even fatalities.[12] As a result, many retailers have implemented practices aimed at controlling large numbers of shoppers, most whom are typically irate due to the cold (or, in Australia and New Zealand, hot) weather, and anxious for bargains. They may limit entrances, restrict the number of patrons in a store at a time, provide tickets to people at the head of the line to guarantee them a hot ticket item, and canvass lined-up shoppers to inform them of inventory limitations.[10]
In recent years, retailers have expanded their deals to "Boxing Week". While Boxing Day is 26 December, many retailers who hold Boxing Day Sales will run the sales for several days before or after 26 December, often up to New Year's Eve. Notably in the recession of late 2008, a record number of retailers were holding early promotions due to a weak economy.[13] Canada's Boxing Day has often been compared to the U.S.'s Black Friday, right after Thanksgiving, and in 2009 a number of major Canadian retailers had their own Black Friday promotions in order to discourage shoppers from crossing the border.[14]
In some areas of Canada, particularly in Atlantic Canada and parts of Northern Ontario, most retailers are prohibited by law from opening on Boxing Day. In these areas, sales which would otherwise be scheduled for 26 December are moved to the 27th.
In Ireland, since 1902, St. Stephen's Day was considered to be a day that most stores would remain closed, similar to Christmas Day. In 2009, some stores decided to open on this day, breaking a 107-year-old tradition. Some stores have also started their January sales on this day.
[edit] Cyber Boxing Day
The online version of Boxing Day is known as Cyber Boxing Day, typically one of the busiest shopping days of the year. Popular websites like futureshop.ca, bestbuy.ca and ncix.com often crash during the start of their boxing day sales.
“Last year (2008) Christmas Day was the seventh busiest online day of the year for (UK) online retailers, while Boxing Day was the busiest,” commented Robin Goad, Research Director at Experian Hitwise. “We have already seen that shoppers are willing to hold out longer for a bargain this year, with ‘Cyber Monday’ moving a week closer to Christmas. This behaviour is likely to carry through to the post-Christmas period, with people logging on after Christmas lunch to find the best discounts before hitting the high street and shopping malls the following day.”[15]
In 2009, retailers launched their Boxing Day sales on Christmas Eve on the internet, to take advantage of the millions expected to shop online over Christmas.[16] Meanwhile, online retailers Getting Personal, La Redoute, M&M Direct, QVC, Republic and Robert Dyas started their end of year sales on 23rd of December. John Lewis started its Clearance sale at 6pm 24 December while its in store sales started Sunday 27 December. Other websites including Argos, Boots, Debenhams, Ernest Jones, H.Samuel, Heals, Marks & Spencer started their online sales on Christmas Day while their retail stores were closed.
[edit] Sport
In both Scotland and England, it is traditional for the Scottish Premier League and Premier League respectively, as well as the lower divisions and Rugby Football leagues, to hold a full program of football and Rugby matches on Boxing Day. Traditionally matches on Boxing Day are played against local rivals. This was originally to avoid teams and their fans having to travel a long distance to an away game on the day after Christmas Day. It also makes the day an important one in the sporting calendar.
In horse racing, there is the King George VI Chase at Kempton racecourse in Surrey. It's the second most prestigious chase in England, after the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
The association of Boxing Day with sport in early village celebrations has led to the folk etymology that Boxing Day is traditionally associated with boxing, although the word box can mean a gift or gratuity, especially one given at Christmas, especially in Britain.
Australia holds the first day of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and the start to the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.
The IIHF World U20 Championship (Ice Hockey) typically begins on 26 December. It is most often hosted in Canada.
The NHL tends to have close to a full slate of games (13 will be played in 2009), following the league-wide days off given for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
The Spengler Cup (Ice Hockey) also begins on 26 December in Davos, Switzerland and includes HC Davos, Team Canada and other top European Hockey teams.
IFA Premiership sides Linfield and Glentoran contest the Belfast Derby on Boxing Day each year. Overall the Glens have had the upper hand, winning a total of four games more than their rivals.
Because of a riot at Windsor Park during the game on Boxing Day 2008, the IFA suspended the game from taking place on the traditional Boxing Day the next year. Challengers overturned this ruling in February 2009, and fans expect the game to be held on 26 December 2009.
CBFL (the Christmas Break Football League, or Chanukah Break Football league, depending) holds the annual Billy Martin Memorial Classic on December 26 in Riverside, California. Many football legends, such as Dan Marino, Lyle Alzado, and Sean Astin, the actor who played Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger in the movie Rudy, have played in the annual CBFL event.
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/CUSTOMS/Xmas/boxingday.html
- ^ American Heritage Dictionary, Fourth Edition - 'Boxing Day'
- ^ Oxford English
- ^ "BBC Radio 4 schedule, 26 December 2004". 17 November 2004. http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2004/11_november/17/radio4_sun26.shtml. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
- ^ a b Manitoba Employment Standards Branch (27 November 2009). "Fact Sheet". http://www.gov.mb.ca/labour/standards/doc,gen-holidays-after-april-30-07,factsheet.html#q13. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
- ^ a b Directgov. "Bank Holidays and British Summertime". http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/LivingintheUK/DG_073741. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
- ^ a b CTV.ca News Staff (26 December 2005). "Boxing Day expected to rake in $1.8 billion". http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20051226/boxing_day_051226/20051226?hub=CTVNewsAt11. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
- ^ Terry Kirby (27 December 2006). "Boxing Day sales soar as shoppers flock to malls". http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/boxing-day-sales-soar-as-shoppers-flock-to-malls-429935.html. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
- ^ Frances Steward (26 December 2008). "$1 billion post-Christmas shopping spree". http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,24843460-2682,00.html. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
- ^ a b Ashleigh Patterson (25 December 2007). "How to become a Boxing Day shopping pro". http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20071213/boxing_day_071213?hub=EdmontonHome. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
- ^ toronto.ctv.ca (26 December 2007). "Boxing Day begins with early rush of bargain hunters". http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20071226/Boxing_Day_071226/20071226?hub=Canada. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
- ^ "Worker dies at Long Island Wal-Mart after being trampled in Black Friday stampede". 28 November 2008. http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2008/11/28/2008-11-28_worker_dies_at_long_island_walmart_after.html. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
- ^ CTV.ca News Staff (21 December 2008). "Boxing Day comes early as shoppers search for deals". http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20081221/Shopping_Deals_081222/20081221?hub=TopStories. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
- ^ CBC News (27 November 2009). "Canadian retailers try their own Black Friday". http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2009/11/27/consumer-black-friday.html. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
- ^ IMRG (22 December 2009). "Many retailers’ sales to start on Christmas Eve.". http://www.imrg.org/8025741F0065E9B8/%28httpPressReleases%29/2947A86A04A12E2180257694003BB487?OpenDocument. Retrieved 22 December 2009.
- ^ Telegraph (22 December 2009). "Boxing Day sales start on Christmas Eve.". http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/christmas/6858609/Boxing-Day-sales-start-on-Christmas-Eve.html. Retrieved 22 December 2009.
