Christmas is the most magical time of the year. Opening presents and spending time with loved ones are Christmas traditions that are beloved around the world. But there is one unique Christmas tradition you may know of if you live in Cape Town: Christmas hampers. Christmas hampers are boxed gifts that are given out at Christmas, mostly by employers to employees, or given as charitable gifts. These hampers can contain anything from food, to wine, to home decoration. Since the time is nearing for companies to select the Christmas hampers they will be giving out this year, we'll explore the South African tradition of distributing Christmas hampers and where this wonderful custom comes from.
The Dutch Tradition of Christmas Hampers
The Christmas hampers tradition in Cape Town closely resembles the Christmas hampers tradition in the Netherlands. The Dutch call these boxed Christmas gifts “Kerstpakketten”. In the Netherlands, Christmas hampers or kerstpakketten are often given by employers to employees. Employers will give a Christmas hamper to express their gratitude to the employees for a year's hard work and to wish them a merry Christmas. These Christmas hampers often contain luxury gifts, such as wine, food or electronic gadgets.
The Christmas hamper was popularised in the Netherlands in the 18th century. During the cold winter months, farmers would bless their neighbours with a basket of food. The servants who worked at a farm were given the second day of Christmas, also known as Boxing Day, off to celebrate Christmas with their families. Additionally, the farmer would give his servants a hamper filled with food to take home with them and share with their families. And farmers weren't the only employers who gave Christmas hampers to their employees at that time. The rich would also give their servants a basket of food to help them through the freezing December month.
Later, artisans started giving their employees and apprentices Christmas hampers. In the beginning, these were filled with food. But they started to often contain other presents as time went on. Companies and organisations started to do the same. Even Dutch traders and military personnel overseas would be sent a Christmas hamper. This tradition of employers giving employees a Christmas hamper developed into a yearly custom that thousands of employees in the Netherlands look forward to every Christmas.
How Christmas hampers found their way to South Africa
Those Dutch traders and military personnel overseas could often be found in Dutch colonies. This included the Cape Colony in South Africa. At this time, missionaries could also be found in South Africa, giving out a Dutch “kerstpakket” also known as a “kerspakkie” in Afrikaans, to people who came to church. The tradition that developed in Cape Town, therefore, was one of giving Christmas hampers to charities rather than to employees.
The Netherlands, meanwhile, were not the only European country where the handing out of Christmas hampers was customary. Food hampers made their way from France in the 1100s to England, where the tradition of giving these hampers at Christmas became popular in the 19th century. It seems that both England and the Netherlands brought this tradition over to Africa around this time.
The tradition of Christmas hampers in the present day: South Africa vs the Netherlands
Christmas hampers lost their popularity in England but in Cape Town and the Netherlands, the tradition remains popular. There are some differences, however, between the giving of Christmas hampers in South Africa and the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, Christmas hampers are now almost exclusively handed out by employers to employees while in Cape Town, Christmas hampers are mostly given to charities. The contents of the Christmas hampers also differ per country. Dutch Christmas hamper shops give employers ample choice between hampers containing food, wine, electronic gadgets, suitcases, sports equipment and home decoration. Christmas hampers in Cape Town, on the other hand, often contain snacks, sometimes accompanied by wine. In South Africa, flowers are also a common gift in Christmas hampers that are given to family members, friends and employees. So, where both countries have retained this festive custom, each country has made this tradition their own.
