Kōrero: Holidays

A Boxing Day holiday

A Boxing Day holiday

Before they were enshrined in law, many of the days that are now statutory holidays were observed as 'customary holidays'. Businesses closed and everyone took the day off, usually to join in community festivities. Christmas Day was one such day, but when it fell on a Sunday – usually a day of rest – the following day was sometimes taken off instead. This Nelson newspaper article of 1859 explains how Boxing Day will be 'generally observed' as a holiday, with various entertainments planned, including a cricket match and a steamboat excursion. 

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

National Library of New Zealand, Papers Past
Reference: Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, 24 December 1859, p. 2

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Te tuhi tohutoro mō tēnei whārangi:

Nancy Swarbrick, 'Holidays - Paid holidays', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/mi/document/40738/a-boxing-day-holiday (accessed 29 March 2024)

He kōrero nā Nancy Swarbrick, i tāngia i te 5 Sep 2013