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Lansing's Advice Column

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Dear IMO,

Where does April fool's Day come from? I've heard several stories about this ranging from some group in France to the silliness that comes with young lovers in spring. Can you help me out with this one?

Thanks,
Jeanette

Dear Jeanette,

And here I thought it was a holiday invented by those novelty companies that make whoopee cushions, fake doggie-dodo, and garlic flavored chewing gum.

Actually, your question is a nice follow-up to one asked a few weeks ago as it involves my favorite subject, the Julian calendar. In the ancient Roman Empire, New Year's Day was celebrated right after the vernal (spring) equinox around April 1. This tradition of celebrating the New Year continued until 1582, when Pope Gregory XIII introduced the Gregorian calendar which replaced the Julian calendar. As a result of the calendar change, New Year's Day was moved to January 1.

France was one of the first countries to adopt the change, and according to legend, many of the people did not know about the change. They continued to celebrate April 1 as the date of New Year's. You have to remember that in 1582, there was no internet, 24 hour TV news, talk radio, or newspapers to notify the citizenry of the change. Others simply refused to accept these innovations and held their wild and lavish New Year's Eve/Day parties per April 1. Those in the know looked down upon such ill-informed and said, "Vous etes Foulle." Roughly translated, "No noise makers or party hats for you fools." Tricks were played on these people and jokes were made at their expense.

This caught on in other countries, and soon all of Europe was celebrating April fools day playing jokes and sending people on wild goose chases. Thanks to the Colonial powers of Europe, the holiday was exported to the United States, where it caught on immediately. Americans love to play April Fools Day pranks on family and friends. In the early 1990's, National Public Radio (NPR) had comedian Rich Little imitate Richard Nixon saying he would run for President. This prank had the phones ringing off the hook at NPR stations across the country with expressions of indignation and disbelief. NPR could only respond with "April Fools."

Another, though less colorful, explanation takes into account the arrival of spring and the foolishness that males of all species exhibit in order to attract females. Considering the behavior pattern of most males on the other 364 days of the year, I find this explanation highly unlikely.

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v4i14