The Beginning of April Fools’ Day

Why people play pranks and practical jokes on friends during the first day of April is a mystery. How the custom started is unclear and full of conjecture.  We have no direct historical evidence how April Fools’ Day started. However, a common explanation dates back to the sixteenth century when France accepted the Gregorian calendar.  To add to the mystery, the French dubbed the people who were victims “April Fish.”

This blog has made references in two recent postings about the changes in our calendar. A quick review shows how the updated calendar helped start the April 1^st custom.   

By the 1500s, the European calendar system was confusing at best and unworkable at worst. The 12-month year was started by the ancient Romans when Augustus Caesar developed it in 46 BC with a leap year every fourth year. Yet much of Europe followed the French example of sticking to the ancient 10-month system.

France and other countries began the year with March to celebrate the start of spring. Yet the official New Year was held on April 1^st. This false beginning caused the seasons to keep changing in their position on the calendar.

In 1563, King Charles IX decreed that France would follow the 12-month calendar with the months of January and February being added.  January 1st would be the first day of the year. The king’s edict was passed into law by the French Parliament on December 22, 1564.

According to tradition, changing the first of the year to January 1^st instead of April 1^st resulted in the practice of April Fools’ Day. Many people refused to accept the new calendar or just didn’t know about the change. Mass communication didn’t exist, and the news about the new calendar spread very slowly.

It became fashionable, as the story goes, to send people who resisted the new calendar on so-called “fool’s errands” on April 1st. The victims were sent to look for things that didn’t exist. Today we call it a wild goose chase.

The French used the phrase “Poisson d’Avril” which translates to “April Fish.” The spring season that brought about abundant fish spawning in lakes and streams resulted in easy catches for fishermen. The fish that time of the year were abundant and were easy to hook. So the “April Fish” phrase was an insult pranksters used. People were called gullible if they refused to accept January 1^st at the beginning of the year or if they simply didn’t know about the calendar change.

Pranksters would stick paper fish secretly on the backs of people who would walk around on April 1^st as the butts of the joke. The “April Fish” tag became the “April Fool” phrase we use in the majority of Western Europe and the United States.

People who receive April Fools’ pranks and tricks need to keep their senses of humor strong. A person who reacts with anger about a trick or joke only encourages the perpetrators to keep the joke going.  Accepting the prank with a laugh will help defuse any embarrassment.  This advice assumes no physical harm is done from a prank.

My favorite April Fools’ joke I remember from many years ago came from a local television station in Southern California. The station news manager positioned a reporter in the middle of an orange grove. Dozens of pickles were hung from the branches of trees. The reporter talked about the poor crop that would result in expensive pickles that year.  Many people called the television station asking where they could get a pickle tree.

April 1^st has a special meaning to my wife and me. Our older daughter was born on that date. It’s a special day to us that represents a blessing instead of a prank.

Thanks for reading this blog. I’ll have another one in about a week. See my web page at joevlatino.com.