No Joke!
April is here, and with it my new release WOLF MOON! But along with the spring flowers and cleaning out that much needed messy garage, we celebrate April 1st with a trickster holiday—APRIL FOOL’S DAY!
The true history of this jokester holiday is actually a mystery. Some historians claim it derived from the ancient Roman holiday “Hilaria” where people dressed up in disguises to trick their friends and neighbors. Some speculate that it was linked to the “Vernal Equinox” (the first day of spring) when Mother Nature “fooled” people with unpredictable weather.
The most commonly believed origin of April Fool’s Day (or All Fools Day), however, began in 1582 when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. Those who forgot the change and attempted to celebrate New Year’s Day (previously celebrated on the 1st of April) on the wrong date were teased as “April Fools” and became the butt of jokes and hoaxes. These pranks included having paper fish placed on their backs and being referred to as “poisson d’avril” (April fish) in reference to an easily caught fish and gullible person.
This holiday spread throughout Britain in the 18th century. The Scottish version became a 2-day event and began with the “hunting of the gowk”. A gowk is the Gaelic word for the cuckoo bird (the symbol for a fool). So people were sent off on phony errands as a joke (like the modern day “snipe hunt”). It was then followed by “Tailie Day” that involved pranks, including pinning tails and “kick me” signs on their backsides!
MODERN DAY APRIL FOOL’S PRANKS
A few of the modern day April Fool’s pranks included the 1957 BBC report that “Swiss farmers were experiencing a record spaghetti crop”. They even showed news footage of people harvesting noodles from trees!
In 1985, Sports Illustrated tricked many of its readers when it ran a fictional article about a rookie pitcher named Sidd Finch who could throw a fastball over 168 miles per hour.
In 1996, Taco Bell, the fast-food restaurant chain, duped people when it announced it had agreed to purchase Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell and intended to rename it the Taco Liberty Bell.
In 1998, after Burger King advertised a “Left-Handed Whopper,” scores of clueless customers requested the fake sandwich!
One year working as computer operator, my entire department agreed to prank our manager, and each one of us hid around the corner of the office building and one by one called in sick. Panicked after the tenth call, she pleaded for anyone to come in who could. Then when we figured she had enough, we all came up to her at once and shouted “April Fools!” After she recovered (LOL), she too laughed, thoroughly surprised and grateful it was all a joke.
I hope you all have a great April Fool’s Day, and are the giver, not the brunt, of this year’s joke. Still, it’s always good to keep your sense of humor if you are. And always remember—revenge is sweetest next year!
