In a world questioning whether news is real or fake, and who to trust or not, there is April Fools Day. Can we take a joke in this era of fakery?
From bogus product launches to nonsensical announcements, there is a history of pranks honoring April Fools Day on April 1 to the 15th century.
One of the best hoaxes of all time was on April 1,1957 when the BBC aired a story claiming spaghetti was harvested from spaghetti trees in Switzerland.
Listeners and viewers contacted the BBC for advice about “growing their own spaghetti trees.” CNN called the broadcast the “biggest hoax that any reputable news establishment ever pulled.”
And somewhere in the Garden State, there are folks who truly believed chicken cutlets grew on chicken trees (we know who you are).
April 1: Officially Official and Not Official
The tradition of playing pranks and jokes in the U.S. on April 1 continues despite lack of state or federal recognition. While the origins of April Fools’ Day aren’t known, it remains a bona-fide observance.
In one of the best officially unofficial April Fool’s Day stunts in the U.S., 2021 First Lady Jill Biden — disguised and wearing a nametag “Jasmine” — handed ice cream bars to passengers while pretending to be a flight attendant. She later revealed her true self and said “April Fools.”
Google and Gmail For The Win
Larry Page and Sergey Brin co-founded Google in 1998, and are also co-founders of Alphabet, Google’s parent company. The two met as graduate students at Stanford University in 1995, where they were both pursuing doctorates in computer science. Google quickly became the world’s most popular search engine.
But when Google launched its free email service, Gmail, on April 1, 2004, a lot of people thought it was an April Fool’s Day hoax. Google was already known for its elaborate April Fools’ Day pranks — like a job posting for a research center on the moon — so no one actually thought Gmail was real.
Gmail was really real, however, and it would go on to revolutionize email in ways no one could imagine. Gmail upped storage beyond expectations and introduced powerful user search features, all free in what was then a paid-for any-internet-service world.
“Just Google it” has become a verb we use daily and Google is by far the dominant search engine.
Swiss Spaghetti Harvest
What is know as one of the greatest and most famous April Fools’ Day pranks of all time (so far) was in 1957 when the BBC served up a hoax — hook, line, and spaghetti strand. That year, eight million viewers saw a straight-faced report on the “Swiss spaghetti harvest.”
The report said the unusually warm winter “wiped out the dreaded spaghetti weevil” and “farmers” were “enjoying a bumper crop.”
Viewers watched in wonder as locals plucked spaghetti noodles from trees like ripe fruit, then tucked into their freshly picked pasta with delight.
In 1950s Britain, spaghetti wasn’t exactly a pantry staple, making the nation all the more gullible. Curious callers rang the BBC asking how to grow their own spaghetti trees.
The broadcaster’s now-legendary reply? “Place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best.”
April Fools Day Around the World
Historians have connected April Fools Day to the March ancient Roman festival of “Hilaria,” where people commemorate the resurrection of the god Attis.
◾Germans play a prank called an “Aprilscherz” which is all about telling one outrageous but generally harmless story that’s completely made up to fool others.
◾In Greece, successfully tricking someone on this day is said to bring the prankster good luck for the entire year.
◾The Polish handily have a warning: “Prima Aprilis, uważaj, bo się pomylisz!”, which translates to “April Fools’ Day, be careful — you can be wrong!”
◾In France, the day is known as poisson d’avril, or “April Fish,” and has long had a fish-themed pranking tradition. In modern times, it’s become more of a day for children to relish in attaching paper fish to their friends’ backs, Atlas Obscura says.
◾In Scotland, April Fools’ has a history of being a two-day event. April 1 is known as “Gowkie Day” or “Hunt the Gowk,” explained Encyclopedia Britannica. Gowk is a term used to describe a fool. On April 2, the celebration may become more physical, with children attaching “kick me” signs to people’s backs.
◾Spain and Portugal both celebrate on different days. The Portuguese don’t celebrate April Fools’ Day on April 1 and prefer the Sunday and Monday prior to Lent. On this day, people throw flour onto unsuspecting passers-by. As for the Spanish, the day of pranks is celebrated on Dec. 28 as Holy Innocents’ Day, during which no one can be held accountable for their actions, as the pranksters are considered innocent.
