Boxing Day!

What is boxing day???

No, it's not the annual day for boxers to hang out and beat each other up.Nor is it the day that all breeds of boxers go out for their annual fun run.It's also not the day everyone runs around town with nothing but their boxers on.Or is it maybe the day that boxers, wearing boxers, take their boxers out for the annual fun run??? Hmmmm....something tells me not........So then does it have anything to do with actual boxes? There are a wide number of theories as to how this all started, including:* In churches, donations were paid into a locked box on Christmas Day to help the poor and the needy. The box was then opened on December the 26th, the day after Christmas day, and the money distributed on what became known as "Boxing Day".* In feudal times, after all the families had gathered together for Christmas festivities, the serfs with families in tow, would visit their lord at his manor house where under obligation, he would bestow upon them a box of goods such as grains, cloth and tools. Because of the boxes being given out, the day was called Boxing Day.* Because servants had to work on Christmas Day they were given the following day off. Unable to be with their own families to work on a such a traditional religious holiday and unable to have Christmas Dinner, the left over food from Christmas Day was boxed up and given to the servants and their families. * Later on in time, servants would carry boxes to their employers when they arrived for their day's work on the day after Christmas. Their employers would then put coins in the boxes as special end-of-year gifts similar to today's Christmas bonus.

What is Boxing Day in Melbourne? It is the day everyone goes to the Cricket Test Match - so that's what we did. First, let me tell you about cricket. It is big and LONG...the Melbourne Cricket Grounds holds about 100,000 spectators. The match last 5 days for 7 hours each day, with two breaks each day: one for lunch and one for tea. So we got there at 11 and by the time the lunch break came, it was quite enough. So we walked from the cricket grounds to the city, but we could not escape the match. The square was set up with beach chairs and a close circuit broadcast of the match.