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The Conversation
Robert Crawford, Professor of Advertising, RMIT University

How Boxing Day evolved from giving Christmas leftovers to servants to a retail frenzy

Pro-stock Studio/Shutterstock

The Boxing Day sales are an essential part of Australia’s festive season.

Every year on December 26 news outlets invariably feature stories about excited shoppers queuing up at the major department stores hoping to score bargains and heavily discounted products. While such reports portray the day’s sales as a time-honoured tradition, they are only a recent ritual.

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