April 1, also known as April Fool’s Day or All Fool’s Day, is a day dedicated to foolishness and deception. Hopefully, the worst that can befall an unlucky victim is a case of deep embarrassment. But beware! You may never know what hit you.
There are several speculative points of view, as to the origin of this innocent celebration. The only constant is that this day is a relic of some vernal equinox that began on March 25, the beginning of the old New Year’s Day, and culminated on April 2.
It has also been suggested that France was responsible for the introduction of April Fools’ Day in Europe. By decree of Charles IX, France was one of the first nations to make January 1 its official New Year’s Day, in 1564. Gifts and visits to friends that had been a feature of April 1 were transferred to January 1. . Citizens who protested the date change, or who hadn’t noticed the change, were easy prey for pranksters and bon vivants who were easily amused by sending ersatz gifts on April 1.
It wasn’t until the dawn of the 18th century that participation in April 1 foolishness became common practice.
The practice followed in Scotland was called “hunting the gowk” (the cuckoo) and innocents were called “April gowks”, the cuckoo being regarded there as a term of disdain.
In France, fools were branded “poisson d’avril” (April fish) assuming that April fish were young fish and therefore easy to catch, as might be a gullible or naive person. Originally, a dead fish was placed on the fool’s back, but that has been replaced by a paper cutout.
In England, it is an unwritten law that pranks must be performed only before 12 noon. The British call their fools “gobs” or “gobby” and the victim of a prank is called a “noodle”. Practical jokes committed after noon are considered bad luck.
The people of Rome, Italy, celebrate the resurrection of the god Attis on March 25. This day is called “Roman Laughter Day”.
The Portuguese celebrate April Fools’ Day on the Sunday and Monday before Lent by throwing flour at their friends.
India celebrates the Huli Festival on March 31. Jokes are made and colors are smeared to celebrate the arrival of spring.
Over time, innocent bullying became a custom of playing pranks on April 1. After spreading to places like Scotland and Great Britain in the 18th century, the prank tradition was introduced to the American colonies, leading to the holiday taking on an international flavor.
The first record of an April Fools’ Day prank was printed in Drake news letter in 1698. Londoners received cards inviting them to the Tower of London to see the washing of the lions on April 1. The lions had previously been removed from the Tower, bath guests learned. For many years, Londoners repeated this joke to gullible rural visitors.
In 1957, BBC television in London perpetrated a famous hoax. They insisted that the dreaded pest, the spaghetti weevil, had been conquered in Switzerland and it was now safe for the Swiss to harvest spaghetti from their trees. The BBC was inundated with people wanting to know how to grow their own spaghetti trees!
Not everyone likes to be embarrassed on April Fools’ Day, no matter how innocent the joke is. Afrolophobia It is the fear of April Fools’ Day. There are many phobias related to day practices that are considered social phobias because they involve some instance of public embarrassment or humiliation. These include:
- Katagelophobia – Fear of ridicule or embarrassment
- Neophobia- Fear of something new
- Scopophobia: fear of being looked at
- Ereutophobia – fear of blushing
- Mitophobia: fear of making a false statement
- Traumatophobia: Fear of being hurt or emotionally injured.
Remember, when contemplating which prank to play on which victim, consider your victim’s personality before making a horrible mistake. Some victims suffer from mild anxiety to full-blown anxiety attacks. If in doubt, don’t do it. Hurting a person’s feelings about themselves is never a joke. Would you like to be pranked?