Where does Boxing day come from?
On the second day of Christmas, the store owner gave to me, one large discount!
Boxing day is celebrated on the second day of Christmas. On that day, Prices are slashed, shopping malls open their doors wide and crowds of shoppers rush to their favorite stores hoping to find an amazing deal.
But did you know that boxing day used to have an entirely different meaning? It started a long time ago, during the times of kings, queens, the monarchy, and their servants.
Boxing day was originally a day for the wealthy to give gifts to the poor. It was a day where the lower class were allowed to take a day off and where the rich would donate presents to them in a box.
Back in the 1600s, servants never got to take a break, especially not on Christmas day. This was their busiest day of the year as there was a feast to prepare, and a big family celebration to serve. Boxing day, or the day after Christmas, was a day where the servants of the rich were finally allowed to go home to visit their families, and the masters would give them a box containing some form of present such as leftover food, a bonus, or a gift. The servants would then take a day off and go spend it with their families. It was a pretty rough life back then.
Who celebrates this day?
The United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, South Africa Germany, Poland, Netherlands are among the countries that celebrate Boxing day around the world. The U.S. does not celebrate this day, as they have a different version of it.
In the U.S. The tradition of Boxing day is quite similar to the one known as Black Friday which is the Friday that follows Thanksgiving in November.
The earliest known use of the word Black Friday was in the 1950s where workers would get into the habit of calling in sick right after thanksgiving to have a four-day weekend. At the same time, it was also used by the police to describe the crowds and traffic congestions at the start of the Christmas shopping season.
There are often reports of shoppers getting into fights and getting injured, or even dying as a result of negative interactions with each other on these special price discount days. People will go as far as camp outside of their favorite stores to be first in line and will fearlessly defend their spot in the lineup. Good thing we can shop online now, it seems like it might be a bit safer alternative nowadays. Intense!
The powerful lady-pharaoh that ruled over ancient Egypt.
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