April Fools Day Pranks & A Lil History

“Hello Mrs. M? This is Officer Robertson. We have your son here in jail. He was caught for selling four pounds of cocaine to an undercover officer. Can you come down to the station and bail him out?”

Thus begins my boyfriend’s own little April Fool’s Day tradition. His mother falls for it year after year.

No one really knows when or where April Fool’s Day got it’s official start as the holiday of pranks and jokes, but it can be traced back to the 1582 in France.

Prior to that year, the New Year was celebrated for eight days, starting March 25th and ending on April 1st. When Charles IX introduced the Gregorian Calendar, New Year’s Day was moved to January 1st.

News traveled very slowly in those days since the only way to spread the news was by walking from town to town; sometimes it took years.

Some of those who did know about the calendar switch refused to accept it and they continued to celebrate the New Year on April 1st. They were mocked and labeled as “fools” and were often subjected to being sent on “fools errands” and were the butt of other practical jokes.

As time went on and the harassment evolved, it became a tradition to play pranks on the first day of April.

By the 18th century it had spread to England and Scotland, and later introduced to the American colonies by the English and the French. The spirit of April Fool’s Day gained worldwide participation, with different nationalities creating their own unique brand of humor and pranks.

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Try these pranks at the office:

*Find a box about the size of a cake. Then cover it with frosting, making it look like a cake. Then put it out in the office kitchen, or wherever people leave free food. Sit back as one of your co-workers tries to cut a slice.

*Switch the “Pull” and “Push” signs on a set of doors. Watch as people get confused trying to open the doors. (Don’t do this on fire escapes)

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This one looks like a lot of fun, especially for kids. Introducing Faux Fish Sticks…

What you’ll need:

Cornflakes
Sugar wafer cookies
Peanut butter
Green taffy candy (like AirHeads)
Seedless strawberry jam

What you’ll do:

1. For the fish sticks, place a couple of handfuls of cornflakes in a ziplock bag and crush them with a rolling pin. Cover 2 sugar wafer cookies with peanut butter, then toss them in the cornflake crumbs to coat.

2. For the peas, tear off and roll small pieces of the taffy candy into balls. If the taffy is too stiff to work with, microwave it for about 6 seconds.

3. For the ketchup, use a fork to stir a few teaspoons of the jam until it’s smooth.

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