I'm sure readers of this blog are far too worldly wise to be caught by any April Fool's Day pranks, but just in case, here's a few facts (or fancies) about the origins of this strange festivity...
The custom of setting aside a day for the playing of harmless pranks upon one's neighbor is universally recognised. Precursors of April Fools' Day include the Roman festival of Hilaria (celebrated on the venal equinox to honor Cybele), the Holi festival of India (also known as the Festival of Colours) and the Medieval Feast of Fools.
In 1561, Flemish poet Eduard de Dene wrote a comical poem about a nobleman who sent his servant on foolish errands on 1 April supposedly to help prepare for a wedding feast. In the closing line of each stanza, the servant says (translated) "I am afraid... that you are trying to make me run a fool's errand."
The first British reference appears in 1686 in the writings of diarist, John Aubrey whose Remains of Gentilism and Judaism mentions, "Fooles holy day. We observe it on ye first of April. And so it is kept in Germany everywhere."
The April 2, 1698 edition of the British newspaper Dawks's News-Letter reported that "Yesterday being the first of April, several
persons were sent to the Tower Ditch to see the Lions washed."
Sending
gullible victims to the menagerie at Tower of London to see the non-existent ceremony of "washing of the
lions" was a popular April 1st prank and examples of
it being played went on into the 19th Century as can be seen from this 'ticket' for just such an event advertised as taking place in 1857...
A number of vintage cartoons show the popularity of April Fools Day pranks – often at the expense of the elderly or those susceptible to being sent up...
In Italy, France, Belgium, and French-speaking areas of Switzerland and
Canada, 1 April tradition is often known as "April fish" (poissons d'avril in French or pesce d'aprile
in Italian). This involves attempting to attach a paper fish to the
victim's back without being noticed. Such fish feature prominently on
many late 19th and early 20th-century French April Fools' Day postcards...
1 comment:
Love the vintage cards and the history...
We have regular Earthquake drills in schools here so when the teachers announced a Flood drill on April 1st the children dutifully did as they were instructed ..well they got onto their chairs but when they got to the instruction "make swimming motions and swim to the office now" realization dawned :0)
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