Boxing Day
‘Wait, you’re off again?’
In the run-up to Christmas, we’re all getting ready for the big day. But in the UK, and in many other countries around the world, Christmas Day is just the beginning.
Every December, I have the same small moment of confusion with some of my US colleagues. If, during a friendly conversation about Christmas, I mention Boxing Day, I’ll get a polite pause or a puzzled look. It seems that those words make sense individually, but not when put together.
If you’re reading this in the UK, Boxing Day needs no introduction. It’s 26 December, the day after Christmas. For us, it’s a public holiday, and for most, it’s a day to catch up on some important follow-up work. This may include leftovers (turkey sandwiches with stuffing are always a strong contender) or a short walk that somehow turns into a five-mile hike. For some, it means sport on TV. For others, it’s about processing what happened the day before. Or digesting it.
In the US, 26 December is usually just another working day. It’s not a federal holiday. Christmas is done and people are back at work. Boxing Day doesn’t just sound unfamiliar. It sounds like a holiday we invented as a joke, and we’re waiting to see who challenges us on it.
Historically, Boxing Day has links to giving boxes of money or goods to tradespeople and those in service. Think of Downton Abbey and all those cooks, maids and servants who would have had to work hard on Christmas Day. Boxing Day was their opportunity to relax a little and receive gifts. The name is also linked to the tradition of ‘Christmas boxes’ and almsgiving.
In more modern times, Boxing Day is most associated with the start of the post-Christmas sales. Overnight, perfume adverts give way to discounted furniture or the next family holiday to somewhere sunny. Probably because it isn’t sunny in the UK on Boxing Day.
But for many, it is simply ‘day two of Christmas’, and I suspect that is the part that really doesn’t translate. Americans do Christmas properly. They just don’t feel the need to schedule a day immediately afterwards to recover.
Boxing Day is just one of several aspects of Christmas that are peculiar to our side of the pond. Here are a few more:
Christmas crackers
If you didn’t grow up with them, they’re hard to explain. A cracker is a table decoration that two people pull apart to make a bang. Inside you’ll find a paper crown, a joke you’d reject from a cheap birthday card, and a ‘gift’, a small plastic object that will live in a drawer for the next decade. And yet, put them on a table and most people are delighted.
The Christmas message
In the UK, the monarch’s Christmas broadcast is part of the background of the day. The King’s message remains a very specific sort of national tradition. It is usually calm, reflective, and quietly earnest. To many, it is a chance to slow down during the chaos of a family Christmas, even if only for ten minutes.
Pantomime
This is one that I really struggle to explain. Imagine a seasonal theatre extravaganza featuring overacting, audience participation and outrageous costumes. I won’t try to justify it, but it is enormous fun, and for many families it’s as normal as tree decorations. It’s even more fun to be part of. In the photo below, I’m the muppet on the left with the pink bass, ready to play in the band for a local pantomime.
Christmas pudding
Christmas pudding is a very rich fruitcake that is traditionally steamed for hours. Then we douse it in alcohol and set it on fire. We love a food tradition that looks like it came from a Victorian chemistry set. The flames are controlled and short-lived, but explaining it to someone who didn’t grow up with it always sounds slightly unhinged.
The confusion isn’t always one-way. There are a few US traditions that, until recently, haven’t made the trip:
Elf on the Shelf
Elf on the Shelf has become very popular in recent years, at least here in the UK. Having said that, the idea is a little odd. An elf appears in your home and reports back to Santa. It moves around each day, causing mischief. However you describe it, it still sounds like the opening plot of a mildly unsettling film.
Matching family pyjamas
Not unheard of in Europe, but I think it is more common in the US, and executed with far more commitment. There’s usually a photo. Sometimes several. Everyone looks cheerful and coordinated.
The scale of outdoor decorations
Europe has plenty of Christmas lights, but the US has a particular talent for going big. Entire neighbourhoods that rival the landing lights of the local airport. This is one tradition that we have embraced in my household. During my last trip to the US, I had to return with lights that we simply cannot get in the UK.
The point of all this
None of these differences are big, really. They’re the small cultural assumptions you only notice when you work with people from somewhere else. And global teams mean you get a front-row seat to all of it.
If nothing else, it’s a good reminder that obvious is usually local. That applies to holidays. It applies to language. And sometimes, it even applies to engineering habits too.
But to my US friends, I will say this. Boxing Day is possibly the best part of Christmas. A quiet second day. No pressure. Minimal ambition. Lots of snacks.
However you choose to celebrate the holidays, please stay safe and warm, and we will see you again in the new year.
