The
King of Halloween wants to establish a new national holiday to
celebrate April Fool's Day In the same way that the world celebrates
Halloween.
Paul Blum, Former! owner
of Abracadabra, the world's largest Halloween store located at
19 West 21 st Street in New York City, said that he decided to
launch his campaign for a New April Fool's Day Holiday “because
now more than ever the public needs to unwind and have fun and
excitement.”
Blum said that response to his campaign, which he has been promoting
on his company's website, AbracadabraSuperstore.com, has been
even larger than expected. “The word of mouth has been terrific.
People catch on immediately. The idea is to dress up like a jester
of what ever you're a fool for. For instance, if you love women
you dress like one; or if you're a fool for food you dress like
a burger. A banker might want to wear a suit covered with money.
There are certainly no limits to what people are fools for.”
Blum thinks that eventually his new April Fool's Day holiday could
become as big or bigger than Halloween. “Some religious groups
oppose Halloween because of its notorious dark side” noted Blum.
“But April Fool's Day is a holiday that everyone can relate to,
regardless of age, gender or religious affiliation.”
Blum is currently promoting his campaigns on the Internet. He
is hoping to reach millions of people witch his fun-filled message
by asking others to post announcements about the new holiday on
websites across the nation. He is also handing out April Fool's
flyers in his store.
”Like Halloween, the new April Fool's Day celebration will be
a people's holiday,” said Blum. “Millions of people celebrate
Halloween although it has never been officially designated a holiday.
The New April Fool's Day will operate in exactly the same way.
People can get dressed up in outrageous costumes and party all
day and night. The main difference is that many will bring along
gags to fool their unsuspecting friends.”
The origin of April Fool's Day is somewhat of a mystery. A common
belief holds that during the reformation of the calendar the date
of the New Year was moved from April 1 st to January 1 st . The
people who were oblivious to the change were considered “fools.”
April Fool's Day is currently celebrated around the world. Each
country has it's own way of marking the occasion.
History of April Fool's Day
The history of April Fool's Day or All Fool's Day is uncertain,
but current belief is that the celebration began around 1582 in
France with the reform calendar under Charles IX. The Gregorian
Calendar was introduced and New Year's Day was moved from March
25 - April 1 (new year's week) to January 1.
Communication traveled slow in those days and some people were
only informed of the time change several years later. Still others,
who were more rebellious refused to acknowledge the change and
continued to celebrate on the last day of the former celebration,
April 1. These people were labeled “fools” by the general populace.
The fools were subject to ridicule and sent on “fool errands”.
Some were sent invitations to nonexistent parties an had other
practical jokes played upon them. The butts of these pranks became
known as a “poisson d'avril” or “April fish” because a young naïve
fish is easily caught. In addition, one common practice was to
hook a paper fish on the back of someone as a joke.
This harassment evolved over time and a custom of prank-playing
continue on the first day of April. This tradition eventually
spread elsewhere like to Britain and Scotland in the 18 th century
and was introduced to the American colonies by the English and
the French. Because this spread to the other countries, April
Fool's Day has taken on an international flavor with each country
celebrating the holiday in its own way.
In Scotland, for instance, April Fool's Day is devoted to spoofs
involving the buttocks and as such is called Taily Day. The butts
of these jokes are known as April “gowk”, another name for cuckoo
bird. The origins of the “Kick Me” sign can be traced back to
the Scottish observance.
In England, jokes are played only in the morning. Fools are called
‘gobs' or ‘gobby' and the victim of a joke is called a ‘noodle'.
It was considered bad luck to play a practical joke on someone
after noon.
In Rome, the holiday is known as Festival of Hilaria, celebrating
the resurrection of the god Attis, is on March 25 and is also
referred to as “Roman Laughing Day”.
In Portugal, April Fool's Day falls on the Sunday and Monday
before Lent. In this celebration, many people throw flour at their
friends.
The Huli Festival is celebrated on March 31 in India. People
play jokes on one another and smear colors on one another celebrating
the arrival of Spring.
So, no matter where you happen to be in the world on April 1
don't be surprised if April fools will fall playfully on you.
