The first of April is a special day,on which practical jokes may be played without punishment.The origin of the custom is uncertain,but it seems to have come about in France as a result of the change to the Gregorian calendar in 1582.
In sixteenth-century France,the start of the new year was observed on April first.It was celebrated in much the same way as it is today with parties and dancing into the late hours of the night.Then in 1582,Pope Gregory introduced a new calendar for the Christian world,and the new year fell on January first.There were some people,however,who hadn’t heard or didn’t believe the change in the date,so they continued to celebrate New Year’s Day on April first.Others played tricks on them and called them “April Fools.” They sent them on a “fool’s errand” or tried to make them believe that something false was ture.
In France today,children fool their friends by taping a paper fish to their friends’backs.When the “young fool” discovers this trick,the prankster yells “April Fish” Today Americans play small tricks on friends and strangers alike on the same day.One common trick is pointing down to a friend’s shoe and saying,“Your shoelace is untied!”Teachers in the nineteenth century used to say to pupils,“Look!A flock of geese!” and point up.School children might tell a classmate that school has been canceled.Whatever the trick,if the innocent victim falls for the joke the prankster yells,“April Fool!”
The “fool’s errands” we play on people are practical jokes.Filling the sugar bowl with salt,stuffing a biscuit with cotton and offering an empty egg shell at breakfast,are good old tricks.Some practical jokes are kept up the whole day before the victim realizes what day it is.Most April Fool jokes are in good fun and not meant to harm anyone.The most clever April Fool joke is the one where everyone laughs,especially the person upon whom the joke is played.
There are also April Fool letters.They are composites of prankishness,deception,absurdity,folk verses,and love.The letters are never signed,but girls,apparently,make a game of trying to guess who send them.To receive an April Fool letter during April,for it can be sent anything during the month,is deemed a most flattering honor and the contents are shared among envious acquaintances.
April Fool tricks are not,it seems,confined to children.People play tricks in the office.Faking phone calls,issuing tickets for nonexistent parties,and creating bomb scares are all elaborate pranks.The story of a salesman in Rhode Island is said to be the worst trick on April Fool’s Day.He had been fooling around with a secretary.He was married and everyone in the office knew about it.
The girl was a bit crazy,a real screwball,and one of the other salesman persuaded her to tell her boy friend she was pregnant as an April Fool joke.She went in his office and left the door open so everyone could hear her.Her words did make him a little crazy.He thought it was a big joke.Maybe he was happy it was an April Fool joke.But he just laughed and kept right on going around with her.
