A bucket of water, a partially open door and a soon-to-be April fool headed straight for soggy calamity.Wet people are not necessarily funny people, but maybe it is all the planning and anticipation that makes a good prank worth pulling.
From whoopee cushions and hand buzzers to dead-end scavenger hunts and outright lies, April 1 or April Fools’ Day brings out the merry prankster in children and adults.
It is also a day when we unquestioningly set aside normal reactions to being tortured and decide as a group to be good sports about harassment for the day.
While April Fools’ Day has its roots in spring-time traditions that date back thousands of years, the American celebration is most similar to the English April 1 tradition which was popularized in the 18th century and is sometimes called All Fools’ Day.
In Scotland April Fools’ is a two-day celebration. Traditionally Hunt the Gowk Day and Taily Day, Scotland’s two-day event centers around the all-time classic pranks of sending someone on a wild goose chase and pinning a “Kick Me” sign on others’ backs.
In Italy, France and some parts of neighboring countries, people celebrate April Fish Day on April 1. As you can probably guess, the games and pranks tend to be fish-related.
The Persian New Year usually lands near the first of April and has been a day of practical jokes and tom-foolery for several thousand years.
While the culture and history of April 1 celebrations are well documented, the reasoning behind organized pranking is historically uncertain.
Historical speculators say the hoaxing, pranking and balderdashery are simply part of the excesses of spring and the spurt of joy that a new season tends to give people after a long winter. Good humor was probably in short supply through a cold harsh winter in Northern Europe during the 1700s.
Here in Southern California we don’t get really harsh winters, but spring is coming at us full-charge after a few soggy months and it is hard to deny feeling a little more energetic and playful as the weather warms up.
