Boxing Day...Before The Sales

Boxing Day is a holiday traditionally celebrated the day following Christmas Day.  It was traditional for servants to get the day off to celebrate Christmas with their families, since they would have to wait on their masters on Christmas Day.  The employers would give each servant a box to take home containing gifts and bonuses, and sometimes leftover food.

The exact etymology of the term "boxing day" is unclear.  The European tradition, which has long included giving money and other gifts to those who were needy and in service positions, has been dated to the Middle Ages, but the exact origin is unknown.  It is believed to be in reference to the Alms Box placed in places of worship to collect donations to the poor.  The Christmas Carol, Good King Wenceslas, is set on Boxing Day and is about a King in the Middle Ages who brings food to a poor family.

In Canada, Boxing Day is a federal statutory holiday.  Government offices, banks and post offices/delivery are closed.  Yet the stores are certainly open.  Boxing Day is primarily known as a shopping holiday, much like Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) in the US.  Boxing Day sales are common in Canada.   It is a time where shops have sales, often with dramatic price reductions.