Origin of April Fool’s Day
April 1st of every year is April Fool’s Day, a traditional Western and American folk holiday. April Fool’s Day originated in France, where in 1564 a newly reformed calendar, the Gregorian calendar (currently known as the solar calendar), was first adopted to mark the beginning of the year on January 1. However, some old-fashioned people opposed this reform and still stubbornly gave gifts and celebrated the New Year on 1 April according to the old calendar. The advocates of reform made a great deal of fun of these old-fashioned people for their practices.
The clever and comical people gave them fake gifts and invited them to fake receptions on April 1. The duped conservatives were referred to as “April fools” or “fish on a hook”. In the early 18th century, April Fool’s Day was brought to England and then to the United States by early English settlers.
On April Fool’s Day, family gatherings were often organised and rooms were decorated with daffodils and daisies. A typical tradition is to decorate the room in a fake setting, either as if it were Christmas or as if it were New Year’s Day. When guests arrive, they are congratulated on a “Merry Christmas” or “Happy New Year”, which is charming and fun.
The fish feast on 1 April is also a great idea. This is also a unique event. The invitations to the feast are usually small, colourful fish made of cardboard. The table is decorated in green and white. In the middle are fish bowls and small, delicate fishing rods, each tied with a green ribbon from which hangs a gift for the guests – either an elaborate celluloid fish or a fish basket full of sweets. It goes without saying that all the dishes at the fish feast are made from fish.
There is also a custom of making fake dishes at April Fool’s Day parties. A typical April Fool’s Day recipe has been described: first, a “salad” with green pepper sprinkled on lettuce leaves, only to reveal that underneath the leaves were oyster cocktails; second, “jacket potatoes”, which were actually sweet breadcrumbs and The second course is a ‘baked potato’, but underneath are sweet breadcrumbs and fresh mushrooms; later on, there is a roast chicken disguised as crab meat and raspberry ice cream buried under a tomato salad. At the end of the meal, guests can also take sweets from the pill box.
But the most typical activity of April Fool’s Day is when people play jokes on each other and tease each other with falsehoods. Some people throw their wallets on the street with a thin string attached to them, pulling the other end of the string in the dark. Once someone picks up the purse, they surprise them by violently yanking it away. Others would put a brick under a broken hat and leave it in the middle of the road, waiting to see who would come and kick it. Children would tell their parents that they had a hole in their school bag or a black spot on their face. When the adults leaned over to look, they would shout “April fool”. They would run away laughing. Anyway, every April Fool’s Day, zoos and aquariums also receive a lot of calls to Mr Fish (fish) and Mr Leon (lion), often causing staff to cut the phone lines in order to reduce the trouble.
Nowadays April Fools’ Day is mainly a holiday for naughty boys in the USA.
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