Of all the joys the seasons bring
And most alas have flown away
I dearly do delight to sing
The pleasures of a Boxing Day
For then a host of smiling folks
Are anxious their respects to pay
And tell me (would it were a hoax)
That if I please it's Boxing Day^1
Ah, Boxing Day! Always such a difficult time for the young and inexperienced housewife who wishes to do her duty toward her social inferiors but is not certain of the extent of that duty.
Who knows how old the custom is of giving a "Christmas-Box" to servants and tradesmen? It is at least as old as the eighteenth century, for we find a description of it from 1731, in which the writer, a man of some substance and respectability, finds himself obliged to give boxes to the male workers employed by his "brewer, baker, and other tradesmen", though not to his own servants, as well as a clerk and the nightly bellman.^2 He finds this an intolerable burden, since he already pays the brewer and baker regularly and feels they should pay their own servants, does not have a great appreciation for the bellman, and considers the clerk well-paid, but we must suspect that his astonishment represents licence on the part of the author, since he cannot have been so ignorant as to be unaware before the day that he would be required to make some gifts. This practice has been in great decline through our own period, likely due to the greater refinement of society from the unsubtlety of our ancestors, which contributes to an increase in self-respect among the lower orders;^3 we find that it is largely public employees, like the bellman, beadle, and watchman, and those who are due charity, such as a representative of the church band or parish boys, who are now apt to present themselves for a Christmas-box.^4 The tradition of printing "bellman's verses", of such a pitiable quality that one can truly believe them to have been written by some modest yet earnest soul employed to ring the nightly hours, which are given by beadles and bellmen in exchange for their boxes, is a fine one that we greatly approve of; but we do not quite like the newer one, taken up by the dustmen, in which a donation is solicited in flowery, overwrought language that one suspects has come from the pen of some clerk employed for the purpose.^5
A gift to one's own domestic servants, however, does not come under the heading of a Christmas-box. It is simply a Christmas gift, as they are a member of the household. The best and most appropriate sort of gift is one which does not consist of money, which may easily be lost or mis-spent, but a useful item. If you can afford it, a gift of clothing or at least cloth will be most appreciated; it has the added benefit of ensuring that your maids do not wear overly fine clothes that are not fit for their station. You may also provide some heartier or sweeter victuals than they are used to having for every day, which again allows you to make the choice of how your money is spent, and prevents extravagance.^6 It is customary for one's servants to be presented with Christmas-box money by members of one's extended family or friends, which is a practice that is not too bad; it is somewhat like the obsolete custom of vails, which caused servants to look at every guest as a paying customer, and which we are glad to see gone, but as it comes but once a year it can do little harm. Of greater danger is the habit tradesmen have of giving a Christmas-box to one's servants - this may seem innocent enough, but it acts as a commission to them for ensuring your family's custom, which is dishonest, and leads them into temptation.^7 Forbid it if you can!
"Boxing Day", a satirical poem with no known author, as found in the Comic Almanack of 1835 but printed elsewhere as well for decades
As reprinted for December 26 in The Every-Day Book (1837)
Chambers's Encyclopedia (1862) suggests this. However, you note when reading descriptions of Boxing Day in nineteenth century texts that while it always seems to be "declining" according to the writer, according to the descriptions themselves they seem to be going on much as before - this particular entry was unchanged in the encyclopedia through the end of the century. Take the statements of decline with a grain of salt!
Noted in Leigh Hunt's London Journal (1834)
"St. Stephen's Day", in The Book of Christmas (1845)
Keeping Their Place: Domestic Service in the Country House, 1700-1920, by Pamela Sambrook (2005)
This is discussed in many sources - it was clearly something that bothered the Victorian middle classes. See A Manual of Domestic Economy (1874) or An Encyclopædia of Domestic Economy (1855)