Americans and other citizens beyond the Commonwealth of Nations usually wonder much about the customs, cultures and holidays that this rich melting pot of historic Western civilization has to offer. Aside from the differences in spelling, word usage and cultural specifics, there are many variations to special calendar days in the commonwealth and especially the UK.

One of these seemingly mysterious holidays is known as Boxing Day, also known as St. Stephen’s Day. Considered to fall upon the 26th of December (or the nearest weekday should Christmas day fall upon a weekend), Boxing Day is one of those UK holidays that many people just don’t seem to understand at face value.

What exactly is Boxing Day?

Boxing Day is a public holiday that, historically, was meant to be for employees and citizens of a lower social class. In olden times, a box made out of clay was played in shops where people visiting them would put in their coins. Come the day after Christmas, this “Christmas box” would then be broken to retrieve all the money that’s inside, just like a modern day ceramic piggy bank. Whatever’s inside is split amongst all the workers for them to take home as an augmentation to their month’s salary (something like a Christmas bonus).

There are many variations to the tradition of Boxing Day across Europe, but the common denominator is that this holiday was meant to give workers and servants some time for rest and relaxation after a busy holiday season. This usually meant giving these individuals the day off as well as some form of monetary compensation (or in some cases, giving them a “box” of whatever leftover food remained from the previous day’s festivities).

Boxing Day in the 21st century

In these days that social classes are no longer the norm and there is no more delineation between servant and free, Boxing Day is a national holiday where people of the UK and the commonwealth get a day off to rest from the merry making brought upon them by the greatest day in the year. Countries around the world may celebrate Boxing day as well, leading to a variety of post holiday cheer activity the world over.

Australians celebrate Boxing Day much like the Americans celebrate the Friday after Thanksgiving: there are tons of sales happening around the country, huge discounts and clearance items where both young and old alike get to spend whatever Christmas cash they received. Christmas shopping is definitely the grand worldwide tradition, but post-Christmas shopping has its place in the sun as well!

In the UK and in some other parts of the world, Boxing Day becomes a fantastic opportunity for being active in sports and even just watching. Various cricket, football, rugby and boxing matches are held on this day, as well as a series of horse races that’s sure to attract high rollers who just can’t get enough holiday cheer.

The next time you come across the words Boxing Day, don’t think about it as a glorious day for fisticuffs: it’s a tradition that has spanned many centuries, and is even probably as old as Christmas itself!