Box social
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[edit] American usage
A box social is a form of fundraiser, wherein donated lunch boxes are auctioned off for some cause (usually charity or raising money), or, alternatively, a person creates a lunch, which is then auctioned off. Varying depending on the customs, the person would often go on a date with the person who won the lunch they had prepared. The term originated in the early 20th century, when such boxes were more common in workplace settings. In the U.S. state of Vermont the tradition is that women decorate a cardboard box, fill it with a lunch or dinner for two, and the men bid on the boxes anticipating a meal with the woman who brought the box. The event frequently takes place in a town hall, school gymnasium, or church hall. The bidding involves competition, and a fair bit of joking and teasing. The practice had fallen out of favor with young people in the 1970s -1990s, but has seen some resurgence in recent years. The rules today have become less rigid, men now provide boxes as well, but the goal remains the same: fundraising.
[edit] Australian usage
The Australian meaning of the word is largely quite different. Box social started to be widely used during the Gold Rush period in Victoria. The large commercial mines that operated at the time were running 24 hours a day, in three shifts of eight hours (12midnight - 8am; 8am - 4pm; and 4pm - 12midnight). As the workers on the 4pm - Midnight shift had their only break at 8pm that evening, their wives or mistresses would take their dinner to them at the mine in steel lunchboxes. On their way to the mines at night, it was not uncommon for the miners' wives to have a social gathering together - to which they would bring their husband's lunchbox on the way to the mine.
[edit] Recent Appearances
In Season 11 Episode 12 of The Simpsons, Homer is taking care of Mr. Burns' Yacht and decides to throw a party on it, but Marge says, "Party? No! No parties!" To which Homer replies "What about... par-tay's?" And then Marge says "No par-tays, no shindigs, no keggers, no hootenannies, no mixers, no raves, no box socials!" Then there is an image of a flyer Homer had made which said "the wildest Box Social the High Seas have ever seen."
[edit] References
- Miller, Peter. Vermont People. Self-published: 1991. ISBN 0-9628064-0-4.
- Strickland, Ron. Vermonters: Oral Histories from Down Country to the Northeast Kingdom. New England Press: 1986. ISBN 0-87451-967-9.
- Van Susteren, Dirk, A Vermont Century: Photography and Essays from the Green Mountain State. Rutland Herald and Barre-Montpelier Times Argus: 1999. ISBN 0-932754-99-6.
