Monday, January 11, 2016

Ten Things You Might Not Know About December Holidays-- Part 2: On the Outs and Boxing Day

6.  Among the holiday traditions on the decline are tinsel and spray cans of fake snow.  Already declared dead are aluminum trees, which became uncool when they were denounced on TV's "A Charlie Brown Christmas."  I used to hate putting tinsel on the tree and, even worse, taking it off.

7.  Boxing Day is a weird holiday.  No one is sure when it got started or why it got its name.  Celebrated in many British-influenced lands, Boxing Day is traditionally the day after Christmas.

It may be an offshoot of St. Stephen's, which is what the Irish call it.

In Canada and England, it has turned into a shopping frenzy like America's Black Friday.

The "box" in Boxing Day may be the donation bins of the Anglican Church that were opened for the poor on Dec. 26.  Or, the name may come from the boxed presents that British aristocrats gave to the help the day after Christmas.

--OutoftheBoxCoot

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