Conference kaosws::canada

   >     I am curious about the holiday Boxing Day (Dec 26).  I was informed
   > that it originally was when families would box up their left-overs
   > from the Christmas meal and give them to persons who were not as
   > fortunate to have had a Christmas feast. Is this true??
    
    That's my understanding of the tradition ...            
    
   >								  And also
   > how is it celebrated today??                           
                                                                
    It isn't celebrated today, it's celebrated on the day after Christmas
    by Department stores putting on big sales, and people buying even
    more presents, returning some and trading others. 
    
    8^) 8^)
    
    Scooter

	Boxing Day.

	This holiday takes it's name from an old practice that 
	used to take place on All Saints Day (or was it St. 
	Stephen's Day - I can't remember but it was the day after 
	Christmas).  In the good old days churches used to have poor
	boxes which weren't subject to vandalism.  On Boxing Day the
	poor boxes were opened and the contents distributed among the
	poor. 

	Hence the name.

	At least that's the story that I was brought up with.

    All Saint's Day is Nov 1, day after Hallowe'en (hence the name,
    "Hallowed evening" -
    
    Scooter

    The story I was given is that it is British in origin.
    
    The day after Christmas was the day items were returned to shops
    for exchange. This was in the time when everything came in boxes
    and as everyone was walking around with lots of them, the day came
    to be known as Boxing Day.
    
    Depending on the province this can be either a shopping or non-shopping
    day. 
    
    Roger

Maybe this is where that old carol came from.  You know:

	"Tomorrow will be my boxing day,
	my boxing day, my boxing day..."

Russ.

    My understanding of Boxing day is from an old English tradition:
    
    		The rich would exchange roles with the servants. In
    otherwords, the rich would serve the servants for a whole day, usualy
    after Christmas.
    
    DL

    Form the Funk and Wagnalls dictionary.
    
    	From England, where gifts were given to employees on Boxing
    Day.
    
    DL 

    Not many people here in the 'States have ever heard of Boxing day.
    
    I'm from England, where it started.
    
    My parents were married on Boxing Day. And they've been boxing ever
    since!    
    
    	:-)
    
    Ray

    
    Since I'm in England, had ancestors "in service" and am interested
    in social history, I'll add my 2� worth.
    
    Boxing Day is the day after Christmas day. It is also St. Stephen's
    Day.
    
    It has a double origin, either or both may be valid.
    
    1) Christmas day is one of the Quarter Days which in medieval times
    were associated with Hiring Fairs. In particular the Christmas hiring
    fair took place a day late because Christmas day was a religious
    festival. It was also the hiring fair particularly associated with
    domestic servants. Those who wished to change jobs packed their
    belongings in their box (=trunk) gave notice and went off to the
    fair to find a new job.
    
    2) Since the "folk upstairs" would entertain on Christmas Day it
    couldn't be a holiday for the domestic staff, so they were given
    Boxing Day off in lieu. They were allowed to put out boxes were
    the family and their remaining guests (who were now fending for themselves
    on Christmas left-overs of course) would deposit gifts. Incidentally
    the boxes were often labeled "To Improve Promptness" as a reminder
    that giving a good gift would improve the service in the next year.
    The acronym of this of course entered the English language as T.I.P.
    much to the eternal gratitude of other classes of people...
                                   
    /. Ian .\

My Webster's dictionary says: Boxing Day - the first weekday after Christmas
observed as a legal holiday in parts of the British Commonwealth and marked
by the giving of Christmas boxes to service workers (as postmen). There are
two important points here: the holiday is not always on Dec. 26, and it
should fall on a day in which normal business (such as postal delivery)
takes place. I don't know why the dictionary says it is a legal holiday, but
my guess is that it was originally not a legal holiday (and hence the postman
came) and later became a legal holiday. I think the practice of giving gifts
(boxes) to business employees (which, of course, can't take place on Christmas
itself) and to servants falls within this definition.
  The first time I heard of this holiday, I thought it was named for the sport
of boxing. The verbal use of "box" meaning "to give a boxed gift" has been ob-
solete in the U.S. for 100+ years.
  Is Boxing Day a legal holiday (such that business offices might be closed) in
Quebec or Ontario? 

    BOXING DAY is a statutory Holiday everywhere in Canada.
    
    DL

     In Quebec, most of the stores are open for business. That way they
    get an extra day in for profits before the stores in Ontario. As
    we live in Ottawa, and Hull is just 5 minutes away, we too can take
    advantage of all the sales on boxing day in Quebec.