Plan B Forum

Today is, "Boxing Day", and Tati asked me what "Boxing Day" means...

And frankly, I had it all completely wrong...

I told her that the British (and Canadians) have a tradition where on the day after Christmas, they have a boxing match...

(My hand to God, I really believed that was the case...)

But here's what "Boxing Day" really means for those on this side of The Pond who might not be familiar with it:

It has nothing to do with "boxing" in a fighting sense:

Boxing Day is a holiday traditionally celebrated the day following Christmas Day, when servants and tradespeople would receive gifts, known as a "Christmas box", from their bosses or employers,

In other words, "Boxing Day" is basically a day where we in The States have already given Christmas tips...

Lord Jim wrote:[ quote] Today is, "Boxing Day", and Tati asked me what "Boxing Day" means...

And frankly, I had it all completely wrong... etc etc etc)

Lord Jim wrote:[Well, the evidence, not to put to fine a point on it, really suggests who gives a fuck...

Excellent...

So we're all agreed..

I always thought it was taking all the stuff one got for Christmas out of the boxes and put them away.

I have educated quite a few people over here who were unaware of the meaning behind the day's name.

Kwanzaa begins today.

So I guess it's not a blue Christmas any more?

Only for Elvis

oldr_n_wsr wrote:I always thought it was taking all the stuff one got for Christmas out of the boxes and put them away.

Until quite recently I thought it was putting all the stuff back *IN* the boxes...in preparation for either
"re-gifting" or taking it back to the stores to exchange...

My Dad's family - the Brit side - always had a simple Boxing Day dinner. Along with their gifts, the servants got the day off, so the family had to make do with cold leftovers.

And L.J., only Americans would be so vulgar as to convert "Christmas boxes" into handing over cash.

Wrong, sweet cheeks. Guess you were not around in 1950s England when the coalman, the milkman, the gasman, the dustman and who knows who else tugged a forelock and looked hopefully at the lady of the house, expecting a shilling. We were not so well-off as to hand out a bottle of whisky.

MajGenl.Meade wrote:Wrong, sweet cheeks. Guess you were not around in 1950s England when the coalman, the milkman, the gasman, the dustman and who knows who else tugged a forelock and looked hopefully at the lady of the house, expecting a shilling. We were not so well-off as to hand out a bottle of whisky.

By the 1950s the great estates had closed down.

You just couldn't get good help at reasonable rates if you gave them the vote (after WWI).


yrs,
rubato

Our boxing day tradition:

Christmas dinner is "Big Duck Dinner" with two roasted waterfowl, wild rice stuffing with sausage and nuts (usu almonds) kale salad and a lot of wine followed by more wine and card games for both generations. Six 'traditional' attendants augmented by differing numbers of guests.

Boxing day starts late and we take off for the Zoo for a leisurely stroll and appreciation for the endless variety of wildlife.

Pub lunch at McMenimins.

Nap.

Boxing Day dinner with salmon, not very mashed potatoes with scallions and usually peas, Kale salad. After-dinner games enhanced by Amaro tastings.


And the evening and the morning were boxing day.


yrs,
rubato

rubato wrote:

MajGenl.Meade wrote:Wrong, sweet cheeks. Guess you were not around in 1950s England when the coalman, the milkman, the gasman, the dustman and who knows who else tugged a forelock and looked hopefully at the lady of the house, expecting a shilling. We were not so well-off as to hand out a bottle of whisky.

By the 1950s the great estates had closed down. You just couldn't get good help at reasonable rates if you gave them the vote (after WWI).

yrs,
rubato

How true that is! We lived in an attached bungalow (2 miniscule bedrooms, a small living/dining room and a little kitchen. Fortunately by 1953 they were building 'em with a small bathroom (no such thing as showers) inside. Mum used to hang the washing above the bath on rainy days. I turned the handle on the mangle above the copper when she cooked the sheets! The coal bin was outside my bedroom window. My dad worked in a warehouse stacking shelves at a radio building company while mum had a part time job 'doing the books' for a cycle shop and a garage. Later he worked pumping petrol at that garage.

All those tradespeople and delivery chaps expected the working class (my mum and dad) to give 'em a tip (a 'box') at Christmas. Otherwise the coal might accidentally miss the bunker by a few feet...

MajGenl.Meade wrote:Wrong, sweet cheeks. Guess you were not around in 1950s England when the coalman, the milkman, the gasman, the dustman and who knows who else tugged a forelock and looked hopefully at the lady of the house, expecting a shilling. We were not so well-off as to hand out a bottle of whisky.

Sweet or not, I was definitely not around in the 1950s, and all my family was over here long before then. I was also referring to servants not the tradespeople (where a tip would be more appropriate).

In the case of the servants, wouldn't money be seen as more of a Christmas bonus than a tip?