Boxing Day is one month away!
26 December, known as Boxing Day, has been celebrated (in various ways) for centuries. It is associated with the Tenth Century Bohemian "Good King Wenceslas" (in what's now part of Czechoslovakia) who braved terrible cold and snow to bring alms to a poor peasant on the Feast of Stephen (26 December). In England, the term "Boxing Day" has been found in print since 1833. Charles Dickens also used the term in The Pickwick Papers (1837).
Boxing Day, the day after Christmas, is when servants were given their day off to celebrate the holiday (since they were expected to serve their masters on Christmas Day). Servants would come to the house to receive a box filled with gifts, money, fruit and any luxurious leftovers which they might enjoy at home with their families. Furthermore, it was a day when the wealthy should provide alms for the poor. Churches would distribute the alms which they had been collecting throughout Advent.
Shown above, an interesting dresser box. It is signed in pencil (indistinctly, on the bottom) as having been made by "Jordan." It is a "Salt-of-the-Earth" box—neither fancy nor primitive. It has nicely mitered and chamfered trim, probably the early shop class project of a young man discerning a trade. This box is perfect for holding a collection of television remote controllers or other keepsakes which need safe (though not exalted) keeping. Click on the photo above to learn more about it.
Though our Greenwich Village store is now permanently closed, LEO Design is still alive and well! Please visit our on-line store where we continue to sell Handsome Gifts (www.LEOdesignNYC.com).
To arrange a visit our Pittsburgh showroom (by private appointment only), please call 917-446-4248.