— from The Book of Holidays Around the World by Alice van Straalen —
Until the 16th century, the New Year began in the spring, on [the feast of the Annunciation to Mary] March 25. People celebrated it with an eight-day festival that ended April 1, when they exchanged gifts.
As the European countries started adopting January 1 as the beginning of the year, many people refused to give up the custom they loved, and they were called April fools. A new custom, of making fun of anyone at all, gradually evolved.
The French call the fool the poisson d’avril [the fish of April] and try to pin a paper poisson on someone’s back without getting caught.
The Scots call it Huntigowk Day and send an unsuspecting person on an urgent errand to hung the gowk [a cuckoo].
One of the most famous hoaxes appeared in a British television “documentary” that showed Italian farmers harvesting long strips of spaghetti from trees.
Ha Ha – educational and fun. I have always loved “All Fools’ Day – Happy April Fools (belated) to one and all.