What is the history of giving gifts at Christmastime?

The theological reason goes to the wisemen who gave 3 gifts to the Christ child (Matthew 2:9-12)

Begging....alms giving...used to be an honorable profession. Money was looked at as a fixed quantity. Giving to the poor was a way to recycle currency.

Boxing Day was traditionally a day following Christmas when wealthy people in the United Kingdom would give a box containing a gift to their servants. Today in In Canada, Boxing Day takes place on December 26 and is a federal statutory holiday where all full-time workers receive time off with pay.

Edited addition

The celebration of Christmas started by Pope Julius I who was the chief supporter of orthodoxy and the Nicene Creed against Arianism, a heresy that held Christ to have been human, not divine. This is the reason for the beginning of the Christ Mass, abbreviated to Christmas. It had nothing to do with the celebration of Saturnalia which was dying away by the time of the 4th century.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturnalia

Bethlehem has about the same climate as Atlanta Georgia. They don't call it "winter" as much as the rainy season.

http://www.snopes.com/holidays/christmas/boxingday...

Gift exchange was part of the pagan Roman festival of Saturnalia, held at around the same time as Christmas. Christmas wasn't even declared until 350AD, and some scholars suggest it was done to counteract the growing popularity of Saturnalia and other pagan festivals at the time since Jesus was not born on December 25th (shepherds don't tend their flock in wintry fields at night).

With the adoption or inclusion of Saturnalia, a number of other traditions were adopted including gift exchanges, evergreen boughs, and feasting. Those who suggest that gift giving is inspired by the Magii visiting the Christ-child are repeating the rationalizations of the Church. The Church had actually banned gift exchanges in the Middle Ages due to their pagan origins, later permitted by laying the idea at the feet of the Magii.

The first gifts were given by the Magi when Jesus was born. Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh.

its a kind of culture.