I was born and raised in Italy where the day after Christmas is still marked in the calendar as a public holiday, but it's dedicated to the Feast of Saint Stephen. This mainly meant further traditional meals and another day dedicated to resting and festive fun. This is also the main reason why I will never understand or care about Boxing Day Sales. If you do, though, look at the picture in this post and store it for a day in your mind.
The photograph by Herbert Matter is taken from the 1943 September issue of Harper's Bazaar and was entitled "The Woman Who Lost Her Head". The image was a sort of misogynist portrait of a superficial woman who walks out of her war job and goes shopping "after the first scent of victory". She "buys by the dozen, yawns at inflation (...) she is draining the shops, cornering merchandise needed by others, shooting up prices, paving the way for postwar breadlines". Dubbed "the disgrace" and "the despair" of America, this "hit and run shopper", ends up losing her head in the process.
Just strip the image of any misogynist connection and look at it in an ironic and Surrealist kind of way. You can bet it will act as a great antidote against splashing too much money and it will also bring a smile on your face if you ever notice somebody else right next to you who's losing their head looking for the perfect Boxing Day bargain.
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