Did you know?
It’s April Fool’s Day Eve.
I sure hope you have that bird in the oven, and your finest April Fool’s Day attire laid out for the frivolity that comes each year on April 1.
Of course, I’m not being entirely serious.
April Fool’s Day doesn’t exactly rank up there in annual importance with Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving. It does, however, get some attention every year in local newspapers.
This is my contribution.
As a teenager, I used to make full use of the day.
“Hello, I’m calling from the electric company, and I was wondering if your refrigerator is running?” I’d ask some unsuspecting recipient of my random call.
“Yes,” they willingly replied.
“Then you’d better go out and catch it before it runs away,” CLICK!
Those, as they say, were the good old days.
When one day could create millions of frazzled nerves across the country.
“The April fool’s joke was worked pretty hard among the officials at the courthouse. All were called to the telephone to answer a call only to find no one at the other end. Once official was even called out of town,” said the item on the front page of the April 1, 1897 edition of the Uniontown Daily News Standard.
Such April Fool’s Day tomfoolery seemed to have been an integral part of the courthouse culture a long time ago. So much so, that in 1921, there was the following item in the March 31 edition of the Daily News Standard: “Tomorrow’s April fool’s day. Keep your eye on the courthouse.”
There are no April Fool’s Day decorations, or special meals. You’ll not find any evidence that the day has ever been set aside for the imparting of goodwill. Quite the contrary, in fact.
But I have found a special poem that appeared in the April 1, 1929 edition of the Uniontown Morning Herald that captured the true spirit of the day.
JUST FOLKS by Edgar A. Guest.
“Couldn’t get into my coat today.
For both of the sleeves were snuggly pinned.
And somewhere, watching not far away,
I know that two little children grinned.
And I found salt in my sugar bowl,
And salt makes bitter the finest tea.
I sputter and muttered: ‘Well, bless my soul!
Who’s been making a fool of me?”
I don’t know about you, but that put a tear in my eye.
Down through the years, there have been several front-page stories in local newspapers that hinted why there’s an April Fool’s Day.
The April 1, 1930 edition of the Morning Herald, carried the front page story with the sub-headline that said, “Numerous Theories on the Origin of Day Have Been Advanced; May Have Been Old Festival.”
“The Romans played burlesque tricks on Feb. 17, the Feast of Fools, and similar jokes are played on friends by the Hindus during the celebration of the Holi festival, which ends March 31,” it said.
“April fool’s jokes are ancient,” read the headline for another story on the front page of the April 1, 1933 edition of Morning Herald.
That article implied that there were several places where April Fool’s-like days were first celebrated.
The Hindus, Romans, as well Scottish and French were all given some credit for origination of the day.
Locally, some of the pranks have been quite harmless.
In fact, during the early part of the 20th Century, April Fool’s Day parties were organized for youngsters so that they could show off their pranks.
“April fool party held at Y.M.C.A.,” read and an item on the society page of the Morning Herald on April 3, 1930.
There had been games and time set aside for nearly “three score girls” to show off their April Fool’s (obviously harmless) stunts.
But not all April Fool’s Day pranks have been harmless.
Uniontown Fire Chief Barclay wasn’t amused in April of 1936, when somebody set-off a fire alarm box, and left a note that read “April Fool.”
Nor, I suppose, one local fellow who’d been duped a number of times, got a kick out of his supposed friend’s April Fool’s Day hijinks.
In 1933, the man got hauled before a local alderman, because one of his friends duped him into driving a stolen car.
As it turns out, even the alderman appeared to be in on the gag.
Two years later, the same man told Uniontown’s mayor, and an alderman that “no one’s going to April Fool me ’cause I’m leaving town.”
Another friend volunteered to drive him to a safe location, where he’d not be vulnerable to another April Fool’s Day joke. The friend asked him to tag along while he was going to do some out-of-town business at a store.
Just after the two men arrived at the store, the friend took an “important” telephone call.
Of course, there had been no telephone call, and the man who’d vowed not to be fooled again, was left at an out-of-town store, and he had to get back to Uniontown on his own.
“Bob was conspicuous last night in his customary haunts by his absence,” the report concluded.