You’ve been [April] “Fooled”
Sorry everyone, but as I was headed into work this morning I got a great idea of an April fools joke. With no notice and no warning, I decided I’d tell the world I know good-bye. I was heading to the other side of the world for a life of year round snowboarding and enjoying winter months year round. I had a good laugh all day and finally decided now to retract my previous blog/facebook status posts and fess up to the truth. I don’t want this post to only be about fessing up on April fools, so lets take a look at where the holiday came from.
The history of April Fool’s Day or All Fool’s Day is uncertain, but the current thinking is that it began around 1582 in France with the reform of the calendar under Charles IX. The Gregorian Calendar was introduced, and New Year’s Day was moved from March 25 – April 1 (new year’s week) to January 1.
Communication traveled slowly in those days and some people were only informed of the change several years later. Still others, who were more rebellious refused to acknowledge the change and continued to celebrate on the last day of the former celebration, April 1. These people were labeled “fools” by the general populace, were subject to ridicule and sent on “fool errands,” sent invitations to nonexistent parties and had other practical jokes played upon them. The butts of these pranks became known as a “poisson d’avril” or “April fish” because a young naive fish is easily caught. In addition, one common practice was to hook a paper fish on the back of someone as a joke.
This harassment evolved over time and a custom of prank-playing continue on the first day of April. This tradition eventually spread elsewhere like to Britain and Scotland in the 18th century and was introduced to the American colonies by the English and the French. Because of this spread to other countries, April Fool’s Day has taken on an international flavor with each country celebrating the holiday in its own way. …(read more)