FIRST OF APRIL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20528, 1 April 1930, Page 14

FIRST OF APRIL.

OLD DAY OF JOKES. A CUSTOM ON THE WANE. Practical jokers will hardly need to bo reminded that this is AH Fools' Day. It may be doubted whether the festival is kept amid the bustle of modern life with as much' enthusiasm as of yore. Perjiaps present-day humour has veered away from the elementary mirth of one who laughs at his friend's discomfiture. Be that as it may, there are signs that the "April fool" is slowly passing into the samo neglect as the valentine and other relics of earlier and simpler ages.

Why April 1 should have been selected as a day of jokes is not very clear. The most plausiblo explanation is that until (lie calendar was reformed in tiie sixteenth century the year was deemed to begin on April 1. When tho change took place, practical jokers no doubt encouraged forgetful friends to bestow New Year greetings on the old day instead of on January 1. Tho French, who first adopted the new calendar, were said to have taken tho lead in this form of humour; it was not. general in England until a. couple of centuries later. Anyono who has a copy of "Tho Essays of Elia" can bo heartily recommended to take it from tho shelf this evening and read the gay and delightful "All Fools' Day," wherein Lamb constitutes himself host at a feast for all the renowned fools of history and romance, and welcomes each to tho hoard with sprightly goodwill. It is April Fools' Day from an entirely new angle.