Christmas-Box Habit

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 853, 23 December 1929, Page 8

Christmas-Box Habit

UNIVERSAL SPIRIT OF GIVING SHOULD tlie garbage man receive a Christinas box? The Auckland City dustmen certainly believe so, but many irate suburban housewives have emphatically refused to answer the rubbish-collectors’ house-to-house appeal during the past few days. This controversy raises the question as to how far the ancient habit of Christmas giving should be pursued.

Nothing more than a casual glance at the crowds of Christmas shoppers in Queen Street is required to convince anyone that the traditional habit of giving Christmas boxes has far outgrown its original intention. Although the practice began when the wise men brought gifts to the child Christ in the manger at Bethlehem, the custom of bestowing expected gratuities has been debased until it has throughout comparatively modern times been regarded almost as a nuisance. Today it is no less objectionable than it was centuries ago, when it was exploited heartily by tradesmen and their assistants. In the early days of Christmas giving, journeymen and apprentices of tradespeople were wont, according to historians, to levy regular contributions from their masters’ customers. The same customers, on the other hand, were mulcted by the tradespeople themselves in extra charges to offset moneys which they were obliged to pay to their assistants by way of gratuities. In this way the customers paid twice, and the workmen were the ones to gain in each instance, collecting first from the customer and secondly from the-boss. GIFTS EXPECTED Evidence is readily available that although these objectionable usages have diminished, they have not completely disappeared. Postmen, telegraph messengers, butchers, bakers and grocers, as well as other public functionaries, regularly expect remunerative recognition at Christmas time, while in a great many firms it is the practice of employers to recognise the service of their staffs by gifts, either in money or in kind.

The garbage man has long been a participant in Christmas gratuities, though logically minded housewives cannot see why he should not be eliminated along with all other recipients. If the rubbish collector is entitled to some extra consideration over and above his wages from the city—• wmges paid from rates which the residents contribute —where is the practice to stop?-

Will the man who reads the electric light meter be similarly rewarded for his murmured expressions of goodwill? What about the itinerant canvassers

who are flooding the suburbs at this period of heavy buying? Has the tram conductor a right to expect his ’ regulars” to wish him a merry Yuletide in coin as they make their last homeward journey before the holidays? The case of the garbage man is quoted frequently here, not to emphasise his appeal unduly, but to hold him as a hypothetical example of the principle that is involved. The runbish bin as a rule is emptied into the cart and deposited on the side-walk, and its owner must collect it later. In Christmas week, however, the collector opens his heart and carries the tin to its appointed place in the backyard with the purposeful desire of wishing the mistress of the house the compliments of the season—with the appended request for a Christmas box. But does the garbage man give the mistress a Christmas box in return? None beyond the service for which the mistress has already paid in her annual rates account. SELF-HELP SYSTEM Just a year ago a cleverly devised system of self-help Christmas boxes was discovered operating among some of the emergency telegraph messengers who were called upon by the Department to supplement the regular service. Women who received celegTams upon Christmas Eve were charged 2d, 3d and up to 4d extra upon each message, ostensibly for late delivery because it was after 5 o’clock. Inquiries instituted by one woman led to the discovery that the boys were operating their own system of Christmas box collection, and an official informed the inquirer that she must not give the boys any money whatever without the presentation of written authority.

The Christmas habit is widespread, and not confined to tradespeople and public servants. People save up religiously for weeks before the festive season solely for the purpose of buying gifts for their friends—gifts which they sometimes cannot well afford. The habit is ingrained. And, as the historian remarks, it is perhaps a good thing, for who would deny anyone the passing happiness occasioned by au unexpected gift in this season of goodwill ?

But should the garbage man receive a Christmas box? That is the question. L.J.C.