How many times have you fallen for the old April Fool’s tricks like, “Ohmagosh, you have an earring missing!” Then the person laughs like crazy as you go into a panic searching the ground for that expensive earring your husband or boyfriend gave you only to find you have both earrings safely attached to your ears?
Or, maybe
you’re the jokester who prepares days in advance of April first thinking up
gags and tricks to play on your friends. I was one of those. I tried everything
from “your shoe laces are untied,” to, “Are those your panties around your
ankles?” Silly stuff, but fun. You had to get your gags in early before others
got there first and the surprise was gone.
So, as I was
contemplating my gags for this April Fool day, I wondered, how did the whole April Fool’s Day tricks get
started in the first place? Well, I went on an investigation to find out the
answer. To my surprise, I found no certain answers to the history of April
Fool, but I did find some possibilities.
According to
David Johnson and Shmuel Ross, it could have been related to the change of
seasons. Ever heard the term “spring fever”?
Others believe it may have been attributed to a change in the calendar.
Here’s one I didn’t know for certain: the beginning of the New Year used to be
celebrated on April first in some cultures. Who knew? The New Year was
celebrated at the time of the vernal equinox which we know as the first day of
spring on March 21. In Medieval times, most of Europe celebrated the Feast of
Annunciation on March 25. In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII ordered a new calendar (to
be called the Gregorian Calendar, of course) to replace the old Julian
Calendar. The new calendar would make January 1 as the New Year. I guess we’re
still holding on to that one. So naturally, those that accepted the new
calendar liked to give the ones still following the old calendar a hard time by
sending them on a “fool’s errand.”
Joseph
Boskin, a professor of history at Boston University, has another explanation
for the history of April Fool’s Day. It goes like this: At the time of Constantine’s reign, a group
of court jesters and fools told the Roman emperor that he could do a better job
of running his empire. Constantine thought it was funny and decided to make the
court jester, Krugel, king for a day. During his one day as king, Krugel
declared April first as a day for absurdity. Professor Boskin said that, in
those days, jesters were actually very wise men. It was the roll of jesters to
put things in perspective through humor. I can understand that concept. How
many times have we seen people make drama out of nothing and then the Late
Night comics (our form of court jester) bring us back down to Earth with a
funny comment on the matter and make us laugh at the absurdity of it all? Prof.
Boskin’s theory was printed by the Associated Press in 1983. But here’s the
good part: He made the whole thing up and sent the AP on a “Fool’s Errand.”
Loved this explanation the best.
Here’s one
last theory:
The French
call April 1 Poisson d'Avril, or
"April Fish." French children sometimes tape a picture of a fish on
the back of their schoolmates, crying "Poisson
d'Avril" when the prank is discovered.
I wonder if
this is where the phrase, “There’s something fishy going on here,” comes from.
Have a
wonderful and very fun day celebrating April Fool’s Day, y’all. I’m off to
torment my friends and family with my tricks and gags.
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Sarah J. McNeal, Author
Sarah
J. McNeal Sarah
McNeal
Stuff I never knew, Sarah!
ReplyDeleteBut I have wondered many times what April Fools Day meant, not bothering to research it myself. Thanks for doing it for me.
I never liked April Fool's Day, way back to when I was a kid. I feared how some classmate might make me look stupid. Oh, and they did, of course. I blushed easily--still do, as a matter of fact--and so I could never be cool about it. My face said it all. Still it was all in good fun, nothing malicious toward me, and as an adult I recognize some of it as a boy wanting my attention, for some reason. Girls didn't play pranks as much--in my opinion. It was the boys.
Thank you for enlightening us.
Oh Celia, I think something must be wrong with me because I have always loved April Fool's Day. I probably should have been more concerned about looking stupid, but class clowns don't usually realize how ridiculous they might seem. It's part of the mystique to seem foolish rather than smart, that way they can astound others when they do something smart once in a while.
DeleteI was actually excited to see my blog would come up on April Fool's Day. I've always wondered how it got started, so the research was fun.
Thank you so much for coming by and sharing a bit about your childhood. You must have been the sweetest little girl in your class.
I'll admit I've pulled a few tricks and gags over the years, but I never cared for April Fools Day. While it's supposed to be a day of fun, it was a day I did not want to go to school as a kid. I was shy and this day was a day of horror. It didn't help that when I blush, it results in huge red blotches all over my chest. I much prefer holidays that result in chocolate rather than blotches.
ReplyDeleteVery informative, Sarah. Too bad the king didn't come up with a wait on women hand and foot day. I think I'd like that much better.
Livia, I have that pale, Celtic, kind of complexion that makes me turn red as a beet when I'm mad or embarrassed, so I understand not wanting to feel that way. I like your idea about "Wait On Women Hand And Foot Day." I also like the idea of having chocolate over blotches.
DeleteThank you so much for coming. I don't know how you found the time, but thank you.
I vote for Livia's idea.
ReplyDeleteApril Fool's Day isn't my favorite, either. A joke or two is okay, but it also seems to be the day when people have permission to do mean things, which I don't like at all. But I do remember one prank that we all thought was hilarious. The pastor's wife sewed the fly shut in every single pair of his shorts. When she got home from work, he was sitting on the couch with a seam ripper. LOL. I guess he had an inconvenient day.
Jacquie, I can't believe you don't like April Fool's Day! I always thought you would be the queen prankster on April Fool. I loved the prank the minister's wife played on him. What a great idea.
DeleteThank you for coming by and commenting.
Sarah, Just this morning I was wondering how and when April Fool's Day started. I thought maybe I'd take a peek at the internet, but here you have saved me the time. So thanks. Enjoyed the variety of possibilities-I guess we're all still wondering though. Maybe we'll never know for sure. Still like Boskin's falsehood the best. I've laughed on several April's Fool Days at some of the many jokes and pranks played by others, but I've never been one who really got into it either. By the way, Happy April Fools Day.
ReplyDeleteBev, I'm glad I saved you some work there. Dang, am I the only person who thought it was fun? Maybe it was the influence of my peers (you know the kids at school my parents blamed for all my bad behavior--LOL).
DeleteI was surprised my sister didn't call me up with some ruse or tall tale to get me. Maybe she worked out to hard this morning and had to go lay down. If I call her with some story or another, she'll know I'm pranking her. I think I may have worn out my "prankdom card."
Thank you for coming by today and leaving a comment.
I loved the idea of April 1, but never enjoyed the pranks. For some reason as I child, I felt anything to make someone feel foolish was so cruel. Reading you informative post, I do love the various stories as to how it came about, but I think I still am uncomfortable about making people look foolish. HMM? Wonder what that says about me? Well, I'm just that way. Still, loved this post and wish you happy 'prankstering', it is the day for it. Doris
ReplyDeleteSay it isn't so, Doris. I never really had those insecurities about looking foolish. I got pranked a lot and thought it was funny when I discovered I'd been tricked. Maybe it's a southern thing. I don't know. Could be I hung out with the wrong crowd. You know, the silly kids who hung out in the back row, but the first to shoot out the door when the bell rang. It could be the influence of my teachers. My senior English teacher used to talk to the door knob. (no kidding)
ReplyDeleteThank you for coming by and commenting, Doris. I promise, I will not play any pranks on you. All the best.
Sarah
ReplyDeleteWhen I was still teaching, April Fool's Day was a day that taxed endurance and patience. Students love to prank teachers. I'd find bugs, snakes, toads, tacks, glue... you name it, I probably encountered it in my classroom or in my desk or on my chair... 0_o One year, I had a group of kiddoes who got into my room the night before and turned everything upside down. *sigh* I never encountered anything malicious or destructive, but it was always a patience-stretching day at school.
Kaye, I can see where, by the end of April Fool's Day, you might need a strong drink and a soothing bubble bath. Those kids must have been more foolhardy, brazen, or truly stupid to play tricks on a teacher. Honestly, I never knew anybody who ever did that. I think we were all just hoping to get good enough grades to get into college. Making a teacher mad would have gone against our plans--not to mention our parents' plans. Younger kids, on the other hand, may not have gotten that memo. You mean to tell me valium was not part of a teacher's survival kit?
DeleteThanks a bunch for coming by and commenting, Kaye. I really appreciate it.
Very interesting post, Sarah! I never knew any of this. I had a dad who loved to play mischievous pranks--and I always tried to think of something first to do to him. He would do this to me when it was time for any gift giving holiday: "Cheryl, I hope you didn't buy me something blue." Me: "Oh, I didn't, it's green." Him: "Good, but you know red is my favorite color." "Well, they didn't have red, but Mom said you needed a green shirt." He would get me every time and I would end up telling what we bought him! Finally, my mom got to where when he started that, she'd arch an eyebrow and shake her head at him, and he'd quit. LOL He was fun-loving, but sometimes the boyish "not knowing when to quit" took over. I was shy too, as a kid (Y'all don't laugh, I know it's hard to believe!) but thankfully, was usually tanned so dark from being outside all the time I didn't turn red too noticeably. Kaye I can imagine how your patience must have been stretched to the max as a teacher!
ReplyDeleteCheryl
Cheryl, in this instance, your dad sounds a lot like mine. My dad was a big kidder and sometimes, sorry to say, he would get caught up in his own momentum and take it too far. I was, unfortunately, like the sorcerer's apprentice walking in his footsteps, much like you did. This is why we had mothers. Someone with some common sense had to keep everybody in line.
DeleteI don't know how you found the time to come over and comment, but I sure do appreciate that you did.
Sarah, I entered a reply but it didn't take. I loved your post. Lots of great information. I wonder if they'll ever change the current calendars. Perhaps my other post will appear, I don't know. Happy April Fools Day.
DeleteAn April fools Day joke we all said as kids. "Is your refrigerator running? Better go catch it." grin.
Hey Barbara, maybe it was Yahoo's idea of a joke not to let your first post through. I do remember those kid jokes and the refrigerator one in particular. Thank you for not giving up and posting a comment even when Yahoo messed with you. I appreciate it.
Delete