Christmas: Boxing Day Eve

This study commences by examining Boxing Day’s foundation, colligating the cultural holiday from its ancient origins—including Egypt. Boxing Day also owes its existence to Catholicism, which invested December 26 with St. Stephen—the first Christian martyr. McGregory locates, by way of the medieval crusades, an apposite site for cultural amalgamation and the introduction of Baksheesh—an Arabic word and possible homonym. This Middle East practice of tipping connects Victorian trade unions and the merchant class with British Boxing Day and mumming—masquerading in elaborate costumes. In 1871, the Bank Holiday Act established Boxing Day as a public holiday throughout the British Commonwealth of Nations, spawning a precise timeline for the already established cultural productions performed in the Protestant ACW.