April Fools’ Day isn’t for the timid

           One of our most important days is coming up soon, and I think the public should know more about its history and some of its greatest moments. Armed with this knowledge, you might wonder why this auspicious day isn’t a legal holiday, as I do.

           No one knows the origins of April Fools’ Day, but according to Wikipedia, “the earliest recorded association between 1 April and foolishness can be found in Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales (1392).” What I read further on this made no sense to me, but who am I to argue with Wikipedia? If you’re curious enough, you can look it up yourself. I only have so much space here.

           The April Fools’ Prank Store website gives a more plausible explanation for its origin, but it’s possible the explanation itself is an April Fools’ joke. That’s the thing about April Fools’ Day — you never know. But Wikipedia does say that it’s been popular since the 19th century, and this is borne out by a number of well-documented pranks.

           For instance, as Mary Todd Lincoln wrote in her diary the next day, on the evening of March 28, 1861, “Mr. Lincoln put a whoopee cushion on my seat at dinner last night. He was trying out a prank for April Fools’ Day, he told me afterward. What a scamp.” It was the new president’s first state dinner, and thanks to the worsening situation at Fort Sumter, the mood was somber until Mrs. Lincoln sat down.

           While Yankees great Babe Ruth was known to be a cut-up, it was the quiet and reserved Lou Gehrig who tried to play a trick on the Babe during spring training in 1927. On April 1st, as the mighty Yankees prepared for a spring exhibition game against the St. Louis Cardinals in Nashville a few days later, the Iron Man found a short piece of stout manila rope, rested it in a hotdog bun and topped it with mustard, and gave it to the Bambino, whose fondness for hotdogs was legendary. But the joke fizzled when Babe wolfed down the faux dog and said, “That was great, Lou. Get me another one — with sauerkraut this time.

           This may come as a surprise to most Americans, but Bill Murray did not star in the movie called Groundhog Day, it was his twin Julius. The brothers frequently pretended to be each other, and had done so since early childhood. Meant to be a prank, they’d originally intended to call the movie April Fool’s Day and had prepared a script to match, but when they learned that a movie by that name had been released in 1986 they scrapped the idea and went with Groundhog Day at the last minute. However, the original joke was ruined so they never brought it up.

           Of course, I’m much too mature to play Aprils’ Fool jokes on anyone.