Purposeful deceptions of the April fool

Western Folklore, Summer 2002 by McEntire, Nancy Cassell

Spring, a dominant seasonal theme of all Fools' Day, is the most essential part of its definition. Although the origin of the word April is uncertain, the most plausible theory is that Aprilis, the Roman name for the month, is derived from the Latin Verb aperire, meaning "to open" (Christianson 2000:246; Dundes 1989:108). The dead of winter is behind us and we open ourselves to what lies ahead. The weather changes dramatically with April's "opening"; the earth is in transition from one major season to another, and nothing is certain. The sun may shine warmly on April 1st, yet it may just as likely be a day of snow showers.7 T. S. Eliot's famous poem, "The Wasteland," identifies April as a cruel month, when the warmth of spring is denied, despite our human expectations and longings. Alan Dundes notes that the other holiday that celebrates pranks and deceptions, Halloween, also occurs at a point of dramatic seasonal change from fall to winter. While goulish trick-or-treaters scurry through dark streets on October 31st, the winds that swirl around them usher in winter's chill. Bundes concludes that the occurrence of pranks at a time of calendrical transitions from death to life, or cold to warmth (April Fools' Day) and at a time of transitions from life to death, or warmth to cold (All Souls' Day) is not coincidental (1989:108-09).

At a time when the weather is wild and unstable, our human society plans and executes celebrations of the absurd. There are, however, important differences between these two transitional holidays. At Halloween, the fools may not know the trickster, and there is no established opportunity for revenge for pranks. The Halloween prank reflects its own season of darkness: its deception occurs as we head into the night of winter, full of dread and anxiety. The April Fools' prank is more open and mirthful, pulling us into the light and playfulness of spring, now that for most of us, the worst of winter has past. On the first of April we deceive in more subtle ways, through speech and gesture. Our identities remain intact; only our words and actions depart from reality, disguised by a cool, "normal" demeanor. We tease each other, just as the weather continues to tease us with "promises" of normalcy one day and winter storms the next until it finally settles into the languid warmth of summer.

Although some April Fool's pranks are verbal (such as oral exchanges, letters containing falsehoods and exaggerations, letters written backwards that can only be read in a mirror, or forged memos in an office), many of them are physical. The fool will have a fish or a note ("Kick Me") taped to the back of his shirt; the fool will look down when warned, "Look, your shoelace is untied," or will rush to the window at the prankster's call, "Look, a flock of geese!" The fool will stoop to pick up a coin that has been glued to the pavement; or he may try to kick a hat that has a brick concealed underneath it; the fool will pick up a coffee sack that is filled with dirt; an older brother will make his younger brother a fool by sending him off to watch a public statue descend from its pedestal; an unsuspecting fool will add salt instead of sugar to a favorite hot drink at breakfast time; and the fool will arrive late to class after a prankster roommate has set back the clock. Over time, pranks adapt to the vagaries of style. William Hone's 1826 publication, The Every-day Book, notes how men's shoe preferences might change from buckled shoes to laced shoes, or to boots, the purpose of the prank (innocent embarrassment of the victim) would remain intact:8