April Fools Day

SageCat · April Fools Day

THE ORIGINS OF THE FESTIVAL
The origins of April Fools' Day go back to the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in 1582, when the New Year was moved (again) and fixed as January 1st. The "old New Year" had been on March 25th and was celebrated with a week of partying, ending on April 1st. Many people did not come round to the new dates for some time and these people, whether they forgot or simply refused to come round to the "new-fangled" ideas, were ridiculed by being sent silly gifts and invitations to nonexistent parties and called "April Fools."

TRADITIONS AND CUSTOMS
April Fools' Day is the delight of small boys (and small girls) throughout the British Isles. It is an excuse to play practical jokes with impunity, the best ones being the old ones, as they say. The standard "Sir, your shoelace is undone" MUST be responded to by looking, even though you KNOW what is going to come next : "April Fool!!" and the joker runs away satisfied. Schoolteachers who submit to this year in, year out, have been known to get their own back.

In some parts of the country the jokes are only allowed until 12 noon; after that, the joker is the "April Fool." The afternoon becomes "Leggin' - down - day" and the horseplay gets a little rougher, the object being to trip up any unsuspecting victim who gets too close.

Even the more sober institutions of the British Establishment are not immune from April Foolery. The eminently sensible BBC once broadcast a wonderful documentary on the cultivation and harvesting of spaghetti, with the result that there are now people who think that spaghetti grows on trees!

Similarly - and a lot more recently, and also on April 1st - our local newspaper published an excellent article on the development of local river craft and described a small vessel, not unlike a coracle with radiating ribs, which had been discovered not far from the (genuine) Viking ship at North Ferriby. It went on in great detail about these boats, or "Ellas" - all the more plausible because there are local placenames such as Kirkella, West Ella, East Ella and even an Ella Street. It was not until they continued their descriptions of these "Humber Ellas" that the penny finally dropped........

Be on the lookout!

Minty

I never knew that, SC, thanks for the article (Humber Ellas, I love it

).

Minty. xx

Riktor48

Thanks SC! Very illuminating!

Yep - the Spaghetti spoof is one of the classic - especially as 'Auntie' was very Establishment and correct in those days! (I think it was Richard Dimbleby - who was a highly regarded and respected broadcaster at the time (father of Jonathan and David).

There was also the famous Guardian spoof about a new island - San Serif. Including a supplement inside the paper for tourism and commerce which added weight to its 'authenticity'! An awful lot of readers were taken in (and the paper is a broadsheet aimed at 'professional' liberals) - unaware that san serif is a font used in the printing industry............. Even the map of the island was in the shape of a printer's comma!

sethur

The Guardian also had an article about the recent discovery that a Japanese nobleman had invented a primitive form of photography in the late 18th century. They explained that he had retired from the Court to study chemistry at a retreat in the Outer Fokus mountains.

They also used to have adverts from genuine companies that were hoaxes by the companies, like the Canon fax machine that could disintegrate the original and transmit it through the wires to be reassembled at the other end.

But the best was a double bluff. When Guinness invented a way to create draught Guinness in cans (using the nitrogen widget) they announced it in the Guardian on April 1st, putting all their competitors off the scent.

Steve W

sethur

However:

"French and Dutch references from 1508 and 1539 respectively describe April Fools' Day jokes and the custom of making them on the first of April. France was one of the first nations to make January 1 officially New Year's Day (which was already celebrated by many), by decree of Charles IX. This was in 1564, even before the 1582 adoption of the Gregorian calendar "