April Fools’ Day is no joke. Did you know April Fools’ Day pranks and celebrations can be traced as far back as 536 BC? Apparently the first known celebrations began with Sizdah-Bedar, a holiday still celebrated in Iran today. Sizdah-Bedar occurs on the 13th day of the Iranian New Year (right around the beginning of April) and literally means ‘getting rid of 13’. Iranians celebrate it as a day for joy and laughter—the strongest weapons against evil 1.
Chauntecleer and Reynard the Fox
In the English speaking world, April Fools’ Day is typically traced back to Geoffrey Chaucer in the late 14th century. In “The Nun’s Priest’s Tale” 2 of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, a cocky rooster named Chauntecleer and the arrogant fox named Reynard battle wits.
The story begins with the melodramatic Chauntecleer waking from a nightmare where he is murdered by a fox. His wife tells him it’s probably just gas and to get over it. But later that day, Reynard the Fox shows up to flatter Chauntecleer on his beautiful singing. Never missing an opportunity to show off, the rooster crows and Reynard immediately snatches him up while all Chauntecleer’s barnyard friends give chase.
As the fox runs away with Chauntecleer’s neck in his mouth, the rooster asks Reynard to tell the farm animals to give up their futile chase. And as soon as the fox opens his mouth to taunt them, Chauntecleer flies up a tree out of Reynard’s reach.
This silly little tale is told in a parody of a great epic that all takes place on the 1st of April:
Whan that the month in which the world bigan,
That highte March, whan god first maked man,
Was complet, and [y]-passed were also,
Sin March bigan, thritty dayes and two,
The phrasing here is a little awkward, so “since March began, thirty days and two” might actually refer to either May 2nd or April 1st. April 1st is 32 days after March 1st, and May 2nd is 32 days after the last day of March. But either way, the first of April soon evolved into a popular day for pranks and tricks.
The Jester Becomes King for a Day
But like Batman’s nemesis, the Joker, there are many possible origins to April Fools’ Day. It was not until 1983 though that a Boston University professor introduced us to idea of a court jester crowned king for one day on the first of April.
The story begins with a professor of popular culture and humor named Joseph Boskin and a young Associated Press journalist named Fred Bayles. When the journalist approached Boskin to shed some light on the origins of April Fools’ Day, he said he had no idea. But when Bayles pushed him further, the professor started to spin a yarn:
Boskin traces the custom of April 1 joke-telling and prank-playing to the days of the Roman emperor Constantine, when a group of fools and court jesters told the monarch that they could rule the realm better than he.
Constantine was amused, Boskin said, and gave his jesters one day to rule. The king of the fools, a jester named Kugel, issued a proclamation that only the absurd would be allowed on that day.
‘In a way it was a very serious day,’ said Boskin. ‘In those times fools were really wise men. It was the role of the jesters to put things in perspective with humor.’ 3
The thing is, everything Boskin said was complete bullshit:
Boskin (who teaches a course in humor) spontaneously concocted a fictitious origin of April Fool’s Day during an interview with a reporter from the Associated Press. The wire service then in all seriousness published the contents of the discussion. 4
If you’re missing some of the absurdity here, kugel is a Jewish egg noddle casserole. It didn’t take long for media outlets across the country to start looking to Boskin to expound on this new information, and the jig was finally up when one of his students, Bill Swersey published the whole foolish story in the student newspaper.
No matter the origin, pranking on the 1st of April is a human tradition crossing time, land and cultures. So loosen the tops of those salt shakers, switch out the toothpaste with foot cream, and don’t forget to wish a happy birthday to Fred and George Weasley.
- “Iranian Traditions & Customs: Sizdah Bedar” | The Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies
- Chaucer, Geoffrey | “The Nonne Preestes Tale” 4377-4380 | The Canterbury Tales | 1400
- Bayles, Fred | “April Fooling Isn’t Foolish, Professor Says” | Binghamton Evening Press | 1983
- Cobb, Nathan | “Pranks for the Memory” | The Boston Globe | 1983