A History Lesson

    In many western cultures the date of April 1st is celebrated in a strangely weird and mysteriously odd way as well as being peculiarly unusual. Although this day is not an official holiday, it is most notable for tricksters playing pranks and practical jokes on each other and also pulling off misleading hoaxes and deceptive ruses. This is no joke. Seriously.

    One might ask why we are doing this and what the origin is of this widely practiced custom. If one does, one is stuffed in a broom closet and being called a fuddy-duddy. Now that we got rid of one, I will tell you.

    According to many historians there are a variety of possible historical origins. Professor Joseph Boskik, a notorious jokester of the Boston University has put forward a theory that the practice began in ancient Rome, during the reign of Emperor Constantine. A group of court jesters and fools, better known as the US Congress, declared to the Emperor that they could run the Roman Empire better then he did. Constantine then allowed one of the jesters named Dave Barry to become Emperor for a day, and the jester decreed that the day should be filled with absurdity.

    Then there is a reference in the story The Nun’s Priest’s Tale, part of Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. The story recounts the adventures of two fools, a fox and a rooster who go to Hollywood and make it big. All this takes place “Thritty days and two” from the beginning of March, which of course is April 1st. Hollywood having more then its fair share of fools seems to confirm the historical accuracy of this story.

    In 1564 King Charles IX of France decreed that January 1st would be the start of the New Year, instead of on April 1st as was the custom in that time. Some of the French people did not hear of this decree and celebrated New Year on April 1st anyway, having parties, dropping balls on Times Square and generally getting stupefyingly drunk on wine with too much antifreeze in it. These people were widely ridiculed and called poisson d’avril (poisoned April) and dead fish were placed on their backs. I would try to explain that, but I can’t.

    I have discovered the real origin. It lies in the Netherlands, where in 1572 much of the country was under the rule of Spain’s King Phillip II. Many Dutch rebels, also called Geuzen (meaning beggars), managed to seize the small but strategically important town of Den Briel from the Spanish Duke of Alba, the commander of the Spanish army. That is why Alba lost his glasses (Bril being the Dutch word for glasses), and the Dutch celebrate this with humor on April 1st when many Dutch children are singing 1 April, kikker in je bil, die d’r nooit meer uit wil (April 1st, frog in your butt that won’t come out). I would try to explain that, but I can’t. Still, this is no joke. Seriously.