Dana Vaccaro, features editor
Fool your friends on
History of April Fools' Day
The origin of this holiday is rather uncertain. How
ever, the common belief holds that during the reforma
tion of the calendar the date for the New Year was moved
from April 1 to January Ist. During that time in history
there was no television and no radio so word spread
slowly. There were also those who chose to simply ig
nore the change and those who merely forgot. These
people were considered "fools" and invitations to non
existent parties and other practical jokes were played on
them. "All Fools' Day" is practiced in many parts of the
world with practical jokes and sending people on a fool's
errand.
Another thought is that the origin began with the cel
ebrations of the Spring Equinox. While some believe it
has to do the a Roman festival known as Hilaria, the end
of the Celtic new year.
In Scotland, April Fools' Day lasts 48 hours; day two
is know as Taily Day and pranks involving the posterior
are played. The victim of the practical joke is referred to
as "hunting the gowk" (the gowk is an extinct cuckoo
bird.)
In France, the day is the "poisson d'Avril" or "fish of
April." The fish in April are newly hatched and easily
caught. French children enjoy taping a picture of a fish
on their friends back and yelling out "Poisson d'Avril!"
when it is found.
Dia de los Santos Inocentes is held in Spain on De
cember 28. This is The Feast of the Holy Innocents. It's
celebrated similarly to April Fools' Day with practical
jokes
In the United States, pranks are played on just about
everybody. Pranks range from the standard "Ifur shoe
is untied," to some very creative and elaborate ideas.
The only "rule" is that no one should be harmed. The
best jokes are when everybody, including the victim,
laughs.
The first of April, some do say,
Is set apart for All Fools' Day.
But why the people call it so,
Nor I, nor they themselves do know.
But on this day are people sent
On purpose for pure merriment.
-- Poor Robin's Almanac (1790
Prank ideas
***Do pranks at your own risk***
Rigged door prank
Place clear tape across the outside of a door from top to
bottom. Frequently people will run into it, especially i
they are in a hurry.
Showering pranks
Fill the shower head with dry temper paint, onion salt,
Easter egg pellets or the like. Lifesavers are great since
they disolve and then re-form on the victim. The victim
will feel sticky afterwards and of course the solution to
that is to take another shower.
Swipe a person's clothes while they are showering. Put
them in an embarrassing place, such as the showers for
people of the opposite sex.
Toilet pranks
Place clear cellophane over the toilet bowl but under the
seat. Works best at parties where a large percentage of
the people are drunk.
Place vaseline (or some other reasonably clear gel) on
the seat at night. Listen for the screams. ICY-HOT or
Atomic Balm are even better. Also put the stuff on the
toilet paper.
Dorm room pranks
Place raw eggs under the person's pillow or comforter
or somewhere else that is bulky enough that the eggs
won't be noticed until after they have been crushed. This
is lots of fun to clean up after.
Fill a person's room while they are out with massive
quantities of crumpled up newspaper. This takes a fair
bit of planning, a lot of paper and a small room but can
have good results.
Body prank
Write all sorts of nasty messages in permanent marker
on a persons body while they are asleep or passed out
drunk. Put them in hard to cover up places.
Phone pranks
Coat the receiver of someone's phone with shoe polish
and then give them a call. Instant gratification. Make
sure you match the colors of the polish and the phone.
Small amounts of shaving cream work, too.
!Glue the victim's receiver down, and then start making
lots of calls to the victim.
For more information about different pranks to pull go to:
www.studentuit.no/—paalde/revenge/Scripts/X/Pranks3o.html
. kisicrs;:
Friday, March 26, 2004
Top 5 April Fool hoaxes
• 1: The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest
I n 1957, the respected BBC news show Panorama
announced that thanks to a very mild winter and
he virtual elimination of the dreaded spaghetti
weevil, Swiss farmers were enjoying a bumper
spaghetti crop. It accompanied this announcement
with footage of Swiss peasants pulling strands of
spaghetti down from trees. Huge numbers of view
- rs were taken in, and many called up wanting to
I now how they could grow their own spaghetti
rees. To this question, the BBC diplomatically
eplied that they should "place a sprig of spaghetti
in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best."
heck out the actual broadcast archived on the
BBC's Web Site (You need the Real Video player
'nstalled to see it, and it usually loads very slowly).
#2: Sidd Finch
In its April 1985 edition, Sports Illustrated pub
lished a story about a new rookie pitcher who
planned to play for the Mets. His name was Sidd
Finch and he could reportedly throw a baseball
with startling, pinpoint accuracy at 168 mph (65
mph faster than anyone else has ever been able to
throw a ball). Surprisingly, Sidd Finch had never
even played the game before. Instead, he had mas
tered the "art of the pitch" in a Tibetan monastery
under the guidance of the "great poet-saint Lama
Milaraspa." Mets fans everywhere celebrated at
their teams's amazing luck at having found such a
gifted player, and Sports Illustrated was flooded
with requests for more information. But in reality
this legendary player only existed in the imagina
tion of the writer of the article, George Plimpton.
#3: Instant Color TV
In 1962, there was only one TV channel in Swe
den, and it broadcast in black and white. The
station's technical expert, Kjell Stensson, appeared
on the news to announce that thanks to a newly
developed technology, all viewers could now
quickly and easily convert their existing sets to
display color reception. All they had to do was
pull a nylon stocking over their TV screen, and
they would begin to see their favorite shows in
color. Stensson then proceeded to demonstrate the
process. Reportedly, hundreds of thousands of
people, out of the population of 7 million, were
taken in. Actual color TV transmission only com
menced in Sweden on April 1,1970.
#4: The Taco Liberty Bell
In 1996, the Taco Bell Corporation announced that
it had bought the Liberty Bell from the federal
government and was renaming it the Taco Lib
erty Bell. Hundreds of outraged citizens called up
the National Historic Park in Philadelphia, where
the bell is housed, to express their anger. Their
nerves were only calmed when Taco Bell revealed
that it was all a practical joke a few hours later.
The best line inspired by the affair came when
then-White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry
was asked about the sale, and he responded that
the Lincoln Memorial had also been sold, though
to a different corporation, and would now be
known as the Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial.
#5: San Serriffe
In 1977, the British newspaper The Guardian pub
lished a special seven-page supplement in honor
of the 10th anniversary of San Serriffe, a small
republic located in the Indian Ocean consisting of
several semi-colon-shaped islands. A series of ar
ticles affectionately described the geography and
culture of this obscure nation. Its two main islands
were named Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse. Its
capital was Bodoni, and its leader was General
Pica. The Guardian's phones rang all day as read
ers sought more information about the idyllic holi
day spot. Few noticed that everything about the
island was named after printer's terminology. The
success of this hoax is widely credited with launch
ing the enthusiasm for April Foolery that then
gripped the British tabloids in the following de
cades.
ources:
www.museumoftioaxes.com/aprilfool;
www.web-holidays.com/fools/.
April first
rue or April Fool
1: Don't disturb the squirrels
In 1993, city officials in Cologne, Germany, imposed a
new regulation on people jogging through the city park.
Runners were required to pace themselves to go no
faster than 6 mph. Any faster, the city officials cau
tioned, could disturb the squirrels who were in the
middle of their mating season.
2: Corporate tattoos
The Pepsi-Cola Company, in search of more innova
tive ways to reach out to young consumers, once ex
perimented with offering teenagers an intriguing deal.
The company sponsored teenagers to tattoo themselves
with its corporate logo. In return for permanently brand
ing themselves, the teenagers received a lifetime 10
percent discount on the company's products. Teenag
ers were said to have responded enthusiastically to the
offer.
3: Crustless bread
For those who just can't stand the taste of crusts and are
too lazy to cut them off themselves, Sara Lee intro
duced in 2002 the ultimate in convenience: crustless
bread. Available in stores everywhere!
4: Pet tax
The city of Philadelphia, faced with a looming budget
shortfall, last year announced a new tax targeted at pet
owners. The owners will be charged a base fee of $lO
per pet, and then $1 extra for every additional pound
the pet weighs over 10 pounds. Failure to pay the tax
could result in the euthanization of the pet.
5: Chicken manure-powered electrical plant
In 1991, Mitsubishi Bank contacted venture capitalists
about an exciting new investment opportunity:
Fibropower, a 14-megawatt generating plant fueled en
tirely by chicken poop. Finally, the investment prospec
tus boasted, a way to put unwanted chicken manure to
good use. Suggestions that this was a chickens**t idea
were ignored.
6: Prehistoric penguin murals
In 1991, prehistoric murals were discovered on the walls
of an underwater cave in eastern France, revealing that
penguins and man once lived side-by-side in that re
gion. Historians, accustomed to seeing prehistoric de
pictions of animals such as bison and deer, were ex
tremely surprised to find the penguins.
7: Alabama changes value of pi
In 1998, the Alabama state legislature voted to change
the value of the mathematical constant pi from 3.14159
to the Biblical value of 3.0. NASA engineers in
Huntsvile, Alabama, were reportedly disturbed by the
decision.
8: Vodka bars
Recently, a Russian beverage company announced a
new product designed to appeal more specifically to
Russian tastes: chewy Vodka bars. The company hopes
the candy bars will compete successfully against popu
lar Western imports such as Mars and Snickers bars.
The Vodka bars will be available in lemon, coconut and
salted cucumber flavors.
9: Bank teller fees
In 1999, a Connecticut-based bank announced that due
to rising costs it would be forced to charge a $5 fee
every time a customer visited a live teller. The bank
promised that the fee would actually help to improve
the quality of customer service.
10: Purple carrots
For those yearning to add a colorful splash to their
meals, a British supermarket announced last year that
it will soon be selling purple carrots. The store hopes
that the new offering will appeal to fickle children who
have grown bored by the orange variety.
11: Karate experts collect bus fares
Faced with a growing number of unruly passengers,
one town in Ukraine recently adopted a unique solu
tion: Karate-trained fare collectors. The number of pas
sengers trying to ride without paying was said to be
down sharply ever since the new collectors were in
troduced.
12: Operation fake tourist
Convinced that word of mouth is the best form of ad
vertising, Sony announced last year that it will hire ac
tors to use the company's new camera at major tourist
attractions. While posing as tourists, the actors will ask
random passers-by to take their picture with the Sony
camera. Once a passer-by agrees, the actors then begin
to speak effusively about the features of the camera.
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"The first of April is the day we remember what we are
the other 364 days of the year.!"
The Behrend Beacon
- Mark Twain
Page 8