April Fools' Day
April Fools' Day, also known as All Fools' Day, is celebrated on April 1 and is characterized by the tradition of playing practical jokes and hoaxes on others. Originating from customs in England, Scotland, and France, the day has become an informal occasion for humor and merriment, particularly in American culture, where it has persisted since colonial times. Families often introduce children to the day's playful spirit, creating opportunities for shared laughter through various pranks. Common activities include sending individuals on absurd missions or playing tricks that reveal their gullibility, culminating in the exclamation "April fools!"
The origins of April Fools' Day are debated, with various theories suggesting connections to ancient festivals or calendar changes in Europe. Notably, some speculate it may link to the spring equinox or the Roman festival of Cerealia. The tradition has seen notable participation from media outlets and businesses, which have executed elaborate pranks on the public. Each culture has its own flavor of foolery, and parallels have been drawn to similar practices in other festivals, such as the Hindu celebration of Holi. As an enduring part of cultural expression, April Fools' Day continues to foster creativity and humor across diverse societies.
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April Fools' Day
April Fools' Day
April Fools' Day, or All Fools' Day, takes its name from a centuries-old tradition among the English, Scots, and French of playing practical jokes on April 1. The day has persisted in American culture since colonial times, although it has naturally not received official recognition or encouragement from schools or governments. It has been called “a holiday of the mind, not of the state.”
Perhaps one reason for the persistence of April Fools' Day is that children in the United States are often introduced to it within the family, either by having jokes played on them that underscore their gullibility or by one parent's playing a joke on the other, giving a glimpse of the childlike spirit in adults and an occasion for shared laughter at grown-ups. The aim of April fooling has always been to put over some prank or impossible request on an unwary person who has not yet noticed what day it is. When the fooled person grows confused or realizes that he or she has been taken in, the joker calls out “April fools!”
In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, media organizations and businesses even played pranks on the public. In one oft-cited example, the respected BBC News issued a false report about the supposed spaghetti harvest by the Italian Swiss in 1957. Other jokes have involved fake offers and misleading signage.
In earlier times, the most popular form of April fooling was the “fool's errand” in which an unsuspecting person is sent on an absurd mission; for example, to buy some pigeon's milk or a copy of the History of Adam's Grandfather. In France the fool might have been sent for some sweet vinegar or for a stick with one end. Of course, everyone the fooled person approaches for help at once perceives the joke. “Thus by contrivers' inadvertent jest, one fool exposed makes pastime for the rest,” runs an old rhyme.
Many different explanations have been offered for the origins of April Fools' Day. Some may be as fanciful as April Fools' jokes themselves. In 1760 the dilemma was set in verse in Poor Robin's Almanac:
The first of April, some do say, Is set apart for All Fools' Day. But why the people call it so, Nor I, nor they themselves do know. But on this day are people sent On purpose for pure merriment.
One rather unlikely explanation is that the day arose from an ancient farcical representation of the sending of Jesus from Annas to Caiaphas, from Caiaphas to Pilate, from Pilate to Herod, and from Herod back to Pilate at the time of Jesus's trial and crucifixion. Another debatable theory is that April Fools' Day is a relic of the festival of Cerealia, held at the beginning of April in Roman times. This festival recalled the legend in which the goddess Ceres, hearing the echo of the screams of her daughter Proserpina as she is being carried off to the lower world from the Elysian meadows by Pluto, goes in search of Proserpina's voice. However, Ceres's search is a fool's errand, for it is impossible to find the echo. It is also sometimes asserted that April Fools' Day is a remnant of an ancient Celtic custom concerning the beginning of spring, the Festival of Llew.
The impression prevails, however, that the custom of April fooling had something to do with the observance of the spring equinox (usually March 21 in the Gregorian calendar). It is striking that at this time of year, although not precisely on April 1, customs of fooling people have been found in lands as far apart as Sweden, Portugal, and India. The similarity of April fooling to one aspect of the Hindu festival of Holi (or Huli) has especially fascinated folklorists. Originating in an ancient fertility rite at the beginning of spring, Holi is a five-day Hindu festival celebrated with bonfires and outdoor dancing. For centuries unsuspecting persons have been sent on fool's errands on the final day of Holi, March 31, just as they are on April Fools' Day. In modern times, however, Holi seems to be losing its appeal.
Certain scholars have argued that the strong resemblance between April Fools' Day and the last day of Holi indicates a prehistoric common Indo-European origin, attesting to the great antiquity of April Fools' Day. Whatever its global affinities, the tradition of April Fools' Day was brought early to the American colonies by English, Scottish, and French settlers. However, its beginnings in Great Britain are unclear. The first allusion to All Fools' Day in English literature dates from the end of the seventeenth century (Dawks's Newsletter, April 2, 1698). Literary allusions become more frequent from the time of Addison and Steele's Spectator (1711–1712; 1714), but of course April fooling existed before it was mentioned in print. Some historians believe that the custom was prevalent in France earlier than in Britain.
April fooling may have first become customary in France after the adoption of a calendar reform by young Charles IX in 1564, making the calendar year begin on January 1. The influential King Philip II of Spain had recently decreed January 1 New Year's for his realm, and this had also been the practice in ancient Rome for a number of centuries, beginning before the time of Jesus Christ. Through much of France in the Middle Ages, however, New Year's Day had been observed on March 25 at the time of Lady Day, or the Feast of the Annunciation. This plan had been favored by the medieval Church because the bacchanalian flavor of the old pagan celebration of the new year on January 1 was thus avoided. (In some parts of continental Europe, Christmas Day served to mark the new year instead.) Furthermore, with March 25 as its beginning, the year in France and England commenced on the traditional anniversary of the angel's announcement to Mary that she would bear a son, that is, on the anniversary of the conception of Jesus.
Like most medieval festivals, New Year's had been celebrated throughout the week following the festival day. This period of seven days after March 25 was called the octave of New Year's, because with the festival day it lasted eight days. Under the old Julian calendar, most French people had exchanged calls and given gifts on April 1, the final day of the New Year's octave. Charles IX's proclamation of 1564, changing New Year's Day to January 1, took several years to be recognized because of slow communications and popular attachment to tradition. Conservatives especially objected to the change. In time, jokers began to ridicule the conservatives' attachment to the old New Year's by making calls of pretended ceremony and sending them mock gifts on April 1. It is thought that the widespread French tradition of April fooling arose from this. Other parts of Catholic Europe celebrated the New Year on January 1 around this period as well. When Pope Gregory XIII issued a papal bull declaring a new calendar to replace the Julian calendar, the Gregorian calendar codified the move to the new year beginning on January 1. In Protestant-dominated England and the British colonies, however, March 25 remained the New Year until 1751–1752, so April fooling may have been imported into Great Britain and then the Americas from the French.
Bibliography
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Barns, Thomas. "All Fools' Day." Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics. Vol. 1, edited by James Hastings et al., Charles Scribner's Sons, 1908, pp. 331–33. Google Books, books.google.com/books?id=uiJBAQAAIAAJ. Accessed 22 June 2018.
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Chasan, Aliza. "How Did April Fools' Day Start and What Are Some Famous Pranks?" CBS News, 1 Apr. 2024, www.cbsnews.com/news/how-did-april-fools-day-start/. Accessed 25 Apr. 2024.
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