On the Origins of April Fool's Day

1922

WATCH YOUR STEP TODAY

This is April Fool's Day When Practical Jokes Are Always in Order — Custom Has Interesting Origin.

Today is the day of the practical joke, that day when anyone is privileged to play practical jokes upon his friends. So watch your step, for a joke lingers in every moment of the day.

The origin of "April Fool's Day" is lost in the mists of antiquity. By some the custom is traced back to the days of the miracle plays given at Easter time. In the decadent days of these dramas, the actors literally made fools of themselves. A "Feast of Fools" was always held in the early spring by the ancient Romans and for a great many years the Hindus have celebrated the vernal equinox as a saturnalia. The chief amusement at these festivals seems to be that of sending people on fruitless errands and thus fooling them.

Many trace the origin of the custom back no further than France in the 16th century. France was the first nation to adopt the new calendar making the first of the year fall on January 1 instead of April 1. Many persons continued to send New Year's gifts and felicitations on April 1 instead of on the new date, and hence subjected themselves to taunts for going on visits that had no meaning.

Our slang expression "You poor fish" doubtless had an "April Fool" origin. The French called the victim of a prank on April 1, "Un poisson d'avril" or "an April fish," from which our expression arose. The origin of the expression probably arose in the comparison between the person who "bites" unwillingly on a joke and the April fish, who is a young fish and hence easily caught.

—Oneonta Daily Star, Oneonta, New York, April 1, 1922, page 5.