Saturday, December 26, 2020

Box It Up

 Happy Boxing Day (or, if you prefer, the Feast of Stephen, as it is called in the carol "Good King Wenceslas"). Here's a little history on the name:

The Oxford English Dictionary gives the earliest attestations from Britain in the 1830s, defining it as "the first weekday after Christmas day, observed as a holiday on which postmen, errand boys, and servants of various kinds expect to receive a Christmas box".

The term "Christmas box" dates back to the 17th century, and among other things meant:

A present or gratuity given at Christmas: in Great Britain, usually confined to gratuities given to those who are supposed to have a vague claim upon the donor for services rendered to him as one of the general public by whom they are employed and paid, or as a customer of their legal employer; the undefined theory being that as they have done offices for this person, for which he has not directly paid them, some direct acknowledgement is becoming at Christmas.

It is also the "second day of Christmas" (Christmas itself being the first), so give your true love a pair of turtledoves, if you are so inclined.

 

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