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WHO’S THE FOOL? ~ APRIL FOOLS’ DAY *
Topics: April Fool's Day, jokes, fun
Posted by BostonGal Thu Mar 13, 2008 12:21:25 PDT
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‘A workman was busy at his job, suspended outside a hotel window

high upon the 11th floor.  Of course, he was properly secured with a

safety belt.

He called to a friend inside the hotel to come into the room where

he was.  Upon entering the room and looking out the window, the

friend saw a horrifying sight.  The safety belt came unfastened, and

with a scream, the workman disappeared from view.

A ghastly tragedy?  No, a practical joke.

There was a wide ledge just beneath the place where the workman was

suspended, and cushions had been put there so that he could “fall”

on that ledge without hurting himself.

Funny?  Not to the one who thought he had just seen someone hurtle

11 floors from view.’

 

While no one was hurt things can go horribly wrong. ‘Not long ago a

prankster in a darkened movie house shouted “Fire!” There was panic,

a stampede.  Five people were killed and 50 injured.

 

A young husband went to work one morning but found the firm closed

because of bad weather and returned home.  His wife was in the

shower when she heard him return.  Suspecting a burglar, she wrapped

herself in a towel, took a gun and went to investigate.  The

husband, wanting to play a practical joke, hid.  When she

approached, he jumped out shouting “Boo!”  His terrified wife shot

him.’

 

In my neighborhood,  Some children telephoned an elderly lady and

pretended to be the police.  They told her that her husband had been

in a tragic accident and was in the hospital.  The lady, who had a

bad heart, never made it to hospital.  They found her on the floor

from a heart attack.   Not very funny, is it?

 

A personal experience to relate was when I was 10 years old

and at home when someone told me they were going

to call the police so they would come and take me away.  They put

their finger on the receiver button while pretending to make the

call.  I believed them and ran from the house.  I did not go home

that day or night.  I found a porch and hid there all night long in

a state of panic.

The next morning I started to walk the streets not knowing where to

go. My father found me and took me home.  God knows what could have

happened to me on those dark streets that night.  

That wasn’t very funny either, was it?

 

So how did this not so funny  ‘holiday’ come about also known as All

Fools’ Day?

 

** ‘Its origin is vague.  There are evidences of All Fools’ Day

being observed in England as early as the seventeenth century; it is

thought to have been copied by the English from the French.  The

origin that seems to be the one most accepted by historians is as

follows.

From time immemorial the vernal equinox has been observed by all

kinds of people.  It occurs around March 21.  Until the time of the

Gregorian Calendar, adopted in the sixteenth century, March 21 was

also the beginning of the New Year.

In those days the New Year ushered in a whole week of celebrations,

and the last, or eighth day of the festivities was devoted to the

exchange of gifts.

 

In 1528 BC Pope Gregory introduced a new

calendar.  March 21 was no longer the beginning of the New Year, and

April 1 was no longer the most important day in the combined New

Year and vernal equinox celebrations. But in those days news

traveled very slowly, and consequently people continued to celebrate

April 1 as the last glorious day of the New Year celebrations.

But those people who still clung to the old calendar, either through

ignorance or just through die-hard custom, soon became known as

April fools.  And thus it was that in France the first day of April

came gradually to develop into a day of fooling and being fooled.

The custom then spread to England and beyond.’

 

As mentioned at the beginning of this article some jokes can be

deadly but the most popular form of fooling has always been to send

the victim of the jest on some fruitless errand. ‘In certain parts

of England the time for playing April Fools’ jokes is limited to the

morning hours.  If anyone should forget this rule and play a joke

after the noon hour, the fooler becomes the fool! To those ones was

sung “April Fools’ gone past; You’re the biggest fool at last”

The French are likely to send the April fool for some “sweet

vinegar” or “a stick with only one end”! In France, the person

fooled is called an April fish, un poisson d’Avril.  This is an

appropriate expression since he “bites” on the joke and is “caught.”

 

In Lisbon, Portugal,  people throw ashes into each other’s faces.

 

In India, there is a day corresponding to All Fools’ Day called

Holi. During the Holi, when mirth and festivity reign among the

Hindus of every class, one subject of diversions is to send people

on errands and expeditions that are to end in disappointment, and

raise a laugh at the expense of the person sent.

 

Even the sophisticated are not immune. Many years ago in London

several days before the first of April, Invitations were sent to

many of the city’s most prominent persons. It read ‘Tower of

London-Admit Bearer and Friend to view annual ceremony of Washing

the White Lions on Sunday, April 1, 1860.  Admittance only at White

Gate.’ Well, there was no ‘White Gate’ as the invitees who drove

fruitlessly around soon discovered.

 

But for two criminals, the first of April played in their favor.

Francis, Duke of Lorraine, and his wife were being held in captivity

at Nantes, France.  On the first day of April they disguised

themselves as peasants and at an early hour of the morning attempted

to pass through the city gates.

All went well until a guard, informed of their identity, was told to

give word to the sentry that those two were in reality Francis and

his wife.  But when the guard heard it, he shouted with laughter and

cried, “April fool!”  The word flew along the lines to the guards

there, and all considered it a huge April Fools’ joke.  However,

when the governor heard it he was suspicious.  But too late.  The

Duke and his wife had escaped because of the fact that the day they

had chosen for their escape was April 1, All Fools’ Day.’ **`

 

Humor in its place is fine.  The world would be a dull place

without it.  A joking remark can ease tension or help to dispel

nervousness.  Joking with people, even gently teasing them, can be a

sign of affection.  But humor can also wound.  When teasing calls

attention to someone's weaknesses or failings, it is spiteful.  A

joker may protest: ‘But I don’t mind having jokes played on me.  Why

should others mind when I play jokes on them?’

It is true that we should all be able to laugh at ourselves.
But to laugh at someone because he or she has been put into an

embarrassing position isn’t really very nice.

 

 * Awake! 11/8/83 - Pages 12-15 ‘Practical Jokes-How Funny Are They?’

 ** Red Letter Days Pages - 79-84 ‘April Fools’ Day’

 

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