This year, Boxing Day will be marked as a bank holiday between Christmas and New Year's Day.
Taking place on Monday, December 26, the holiday has been officially celebrated since 1871. It's often a very misconception among some people that Boxing Day gets its name from the sport of boxing or has something to do with boxes - which isn't entirely untrue.
Nowadays, the holiday has become synonymous with shopping and finding some great post-Christmas discounts. However, this wasn't the case a couple of hundred years ago.
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In the 1800s, during the reign of Queen Victoria, Boxing Day was focused on rewarding the poorer echelons of British society. The tradition at the time dictated that servants could have the day off (an extremely rare occurrence in those days).
They would also receive hand-selected presents from their masters as a way of showing gratitude for their services. The presents given would often be referred to as a 'Christmas box' which led to the day eventually being known as 'Boxing Day'.
The Boxing Day tradition became more widespread thanks to the Church in Britain which would collect money from worshippers and redistribute it to the poor during Christmas. Coincidentally enough, the money would be stored in a box, further adding to the Boxing Day moniker.
While much of this tradition took place centuries ago, the charitable aspects of Boxing Day are still observed by many people today who may leave extra money for postmen or other domestic workers as an expression of gratitude.
It is not just the UK that celebrates Boxing Day, but other countries that used to form the British Empire - including Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Nigeria, Trinidad and Tobago, Singapore, South Africa, and Bermuda. However, in these countries, the holiday is usually treated as a shopping event like Black Friday and marks a day when sales kick-off.
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