EVER WONDER by Jacque Scott: April Fool’s Day
April Fool’s Day
Well, here we are again. Last Saturday iwas that fun special day we call April Fool’s Day, or All Fool’s Day, and someone is always there to pull a prank on me…. I seem to be one of those very gullible people you have met once or twice in your life. Let’s see what we can find out about the origin of April Fool’s Day. Many different things have been said about its origins, and some of these are as fanciful as April Fool’s jokes themselves.
One such popular but totally unlikely explanation is the idea that Christ’s foes intended to make a fool of him and sent him on a meaningless round of visits to all of the Roman officials while knowing that his fate was already sealed. Medieval mystery plays often focused on these events, tracing Christ’s journey from Annas to Calaphas to Pilate to Herod, then back again to Pilate. Many cultures have a practice, predating Christianity, which involves sending people on what are called ‘ fool’s errands’.
The most convincing historical evidence suggests that April Fooling started in France under King Charles IX. Early in the 16th century, most of France celebrated New Year’s Day on March 25, around the start of Spring. The celebrations included the giving of gifts and ran for about a week ending with dinners and parties on April 1.
However, in 1564 King Charles adopted the more accurate Gregorian calendar and moved New Year’s Day back to January 1. Many of the French resisted the change and others merely ignored the change. The parties and exchanging of gifts continued during the week ending April 1. It is said that jokers made fun of these fools’ attachments to the old New Years Day and sent foolish gifts and invitations to non-existent parties. The butt of an April Fool’s joke was known as an ‘April Fish’, because at that time of year the sun left the zodiacal sign Pisces, or fish. In fact, all things taking place on April 1 were called ‘April Fish’. When Napoleon I, emperor of France, married his second wife, Marie-Louise of Austria, on April 1, 1810, he was nicknamed “April Fish”.
Years later when the French were quite used to the new New Year’s date, they made April 1st fooling into a celebration in its own right. The tradition later spread to England and Scotland in the 18th century. Both the English and French introduced it to the American colonies. Thus April Fool’s Day developed into an international day of fun. Different nationalities specialize in their own brand of humor at the expense of their friends and families.
April Fool’s Day is celebrated for two days in Scotland. The second day is devoted to the posterior region of the body. Now you know where the “kick me” sign originated…. They call it Taily Day.
Mexico has a day of jokes, pranks and trickery, but they observe it on December 28. This is actually a day that remembers the slaughter of little children by King Herod, but it eventually turned into a lighter celebration of practical jokes.
April Fool’s Day is a fun day. No one gives or gets gifts. No one gets off work or school. It’s just a fun little holiday, but one where everyone has to be careful that he is not the next victim or ‘fool’. Have fun….
So, there you have it… A bit about April Fool’s Day. God bless you.