In 2022, Boxing Day will be marked as a bank holiday between Christmas and New Years, due to both official holiday's falling on weekends this year.
Today's holiday has been official celebrated since 1871, reports Manchester Evening News. However, it is a common misconception that Boxing Day gets its name from the sport of boxing, or something to do with boxes.
This isn't entirely untrue, but nowadays the holiday is known for its bargain shopping and post-Christmas discounts in various retailers.
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However, this shopping craze wasn't all the rage hundreds of years ago, when the holiday originated.
In the 1800s, during the reign of Queen Victoria, Boxing Day was focused on rewarding the poorer people of society in the UK.
At the time, the tradition dictated that servants could have the day off their work - which was an extremely rare occurrence in those days.
Masters of these servants would also delve out hand-selected presents as a way of showing their gratitude for their hard work. These presents were referred to as 'Christmas boxes' - which led to the day eventually being known as 'Boxing Day'.
This tradition on Boxing Day became more widespread in the UK thanks to the Church. They would collect money from worshippers, and donate it to the poor during the festive season.
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 aspect of Boxing Day is still very much alive today. Many people leave extra money for postmen or other domestic workers as an expression of thanks.
Now, many countries that used to form the British Empire celebrate Boxing Day too. These include Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Nigeria, Trinidad and Tobago, Singapore, South Africa, and Bermuda.
However, Boxing Day in these places is marked as a shopping event like Black Friday, and is noted as the day when sales kick-off.
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