No Fooling!
Image: Farmers’ Almanac
How did April Fools’ Day become a day for practical jokes?
Legends have it that April Fools’ Day began in France in 1564 after Pope Gregory XIII decreed the switch from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. Prior to that, April 1 used to be celebrated as New Year’s Day. Those who insisted on celebrating the “old” New Year’s became known as April fools and it became common to play jokes on one another.
Some also say that it has to do with Mother Nature fooling us. Sometimes, a late March/early April storm brings snow, fooling us, since the calendar says it is spring.
The truth is, no one really knows for certain what the origin of April Fools’ Day is, though it’s been celebrated in many varied cultures for hundreds—maybe even thousands—of years.
Some evidence seems to indicate that April Fools’ Day existed, in some form or other, long before Pope Gregory’s day. Roughly 200 years before the calendar changed, English poet Geoffrey Chaucer seemed to reference April Fools’ Day in his Canterbury Tales, when the characters of a rooster and a fox each trick one another. Chaucer notes that the date of the events described is March 32 (also known as April 1).
One of the oldest known prank traditions at this time of year is Sizdah Bedar, the Persian New Year. Residents of the area that became modern-day Iran have played jokes on one another during this holiday—which always falls on either April 1 or 2—since at least 536 B.C. This tradition is still practiced today.
Whatever the origin of April Fools’ Day, different traditions have developed in different countries over the years. In some countries, all April Fools’ Day pranks must be completed by noon. Anyone playing a joke after that deadline is called an “April Fool.” In North America, this tradition is generally followed in Canada, but not in the United States.
In Italy, France, and French-speaking areas of Canada, one popular tradition is to attempt to stick a paper fish on someone’s back without their noticing. This practice is known as poisson d’avril, or “April’s fish,” a phrase that can sometimes refer to April Fools’ pranks in general.
In Belgium, children often lock parents or teachers out of a room or building, only agreeing to let them in exchange for a treat.
In Poland, large-scale hoaxes by the media, and even the government are so widespread that people often avoid engaging in serious activities for the day. At least one important historic event—the signing of the anti-Turkish alliance by Emperor Leopold I in 1683—was backdated from April 1 to March 31.
In Scotland, April Fools’ Day used to be called “Hunt the Gowk Day.” Gowk is an old Scottish word for a foolish person. A traditional prank involved sending the “gowk” to deliver a sealed message. The message instructed the recipient, “Dinna laugh, dinna smile. Hunt the gowk another mile.” The recipient would then send the victim onward to another person, bearing an identical sealed message. The joke went on until either the “gowk” got wise to what was going on, or someone took pity on him.
Pranksters Among Us: Readers Share Jokes
—Compiled by Mickey Brandt
April Fools’ Day is a day dedicated to pranks, hoaxes, and lighthearted humor. A few residents in our reading area reflected on their experiences, mostly frivolous, connected to April Fools’ Day.
Warren Crescenzo, at Vineland Historical and Antiquarian Society (VHAS):
Well, I’ve been a fool a few times. Maybe more times than I want to admit.
Parker Devine, at VHAS:
Well, there are the classics, like when the kids wake up, tell them to hurry and get ready for school when it’s Saturday. There’s more. This is hard on the spot.
Reporter: I’ll get back to you.
Anonymous, at VHAS:
Okay. The chocolate-covered cotton balls. You took the cotton ball, you dipped it in the chocolate, put them on sticks and you had an April Fool lollipop. That was when I was young; when we were adults in high school, when you graduated, they had fake cakes. They were made from stuffed pillows; it was a tradition. And it was usually us honor kids, upperclassmen, who had the best things to do. We knew.
Reporter: Oh, bad. My grandson’s going to be thrilled with these ideas.
Anonymous, at BJ’s:
April Fools? Who needs April Fools; I’m a born prankster. I’d play a prank on somebody every day if I could. Be careful. Reporter: Yes, I was just leaving.
Anonymous, at Tractor Supply Co.:
Yeah, I didn’t get many pranks played on me, if any, because I was not the kind of guy that anybody would want to play pranks on, you know. I was ready for anything as a young man, a bit mean, you know like no one would mess with me. So, if anything, I would be the one to do the pranks, but I didn’t have to. So, I wasn’t too involved in April Fool’s, one way or the other. I still have some of that left, you know.
Howard Fraley, at Cumberland Mall:
My son Trevor was born on April Fool’s Day, he’s 32 now. Of course, I’ve played April Fool’s jokes on people. Hey, it’s coming up next week. You know what I heard? On April Fool’s once a friend of mine, he had a lottery ticket, a fake one, and they gave it to their father. He was all excited. And then when he found out it wasn’t real, he was mad as h*ll.
Reporter: Whew, that’s high level.
Katherine Thompson, at RCSJ Cumberland baseball game:
I have a friend who’s a retired kindergarten teacher, so she’s extremely creative. She sewed all her husband’s underwear legs together on his boxers. So, when he went to go put them on in the morning, you can imagine what happened. Nobody would ever expect that.
She sewed a straight line, so she could cut them out afterwards. But every single pair she did that to. She had to be able to make it up, like fix it, that’s a rule. So, she would be able to cut out the hem quickly. So that was superior!
Michelle Swerdlow, at RCSJ game:
In college, we turned my roommate’s dressers upside down, so she found nothing was where it should have been. She was very confused, all her books from the top were now upside down at the bottom. It really was fun. We put everything back afterward, it was harmless. April Fool’s tricks should be harmless, or no one should be doing them.
David, at game:
I’ve done a couple things. Not just April Fool’s but just pranks like shaving cream in the hand when they’re sleeping, then tickle their nose.
Reporter: In our fraternity, we lined up folded cups full of shaving cream under a brother’s closed door and then stomped on them—it would fill the room, yeah.
