My Gift to You—Get Your Free Ebook—”The 5-Day Journey to Cultural Awareness”!
“We’re going to do a surprise skit at school today and mimic what happened during the Grammy Awards with Will Smith the other night,” our 16-year-old son told us during breakfast.
“That’s perfect,” I said. “It’s April Fool’s Day!”
“Oh, that’s right. It’s le poisson d’avril,” my French husband said.
“I forgot about that,” my son said. “In France, we used to stick paper fish on people’s backs, usually the teacher’s.”
“Mommy, please pull a big April Fool’s joke on me today!” our 9-year-old said, walking out the door to school.
“So, what is the origin of le poisson d’avril anyway?” I asked.
No one could answer, so I decided to put on my cultural awareness glasses and find out.
Ancient Greek Origin
According to Tête à Modeler, April 1 comes 12 days after the spring equinox. In Ancient Greece, a day was set apart to honor the God of Laughter. This was a time to tell jokes, pull pranks, and inverse roles, just for fun and play.
Other legends in France say that a “long, long time ago, the new year started on the 1st of April. This date ended in the mid-16th century. In his proclamation of Paris in January 1563, King Charles IX (1550–1574) made a swift change to the French calendar.
The King of France wanted the year to start on the 1st of January. The royal edict was promulgated at Roussillon on the 9th of August 1564 and is known as the Edict of Roussillon. However, the change of date applied from the 1st of January 1567.
Legend has it that some people were not happy with this enforced law. This is for many reasons. You know, people don’t like change. And this was a BIG change—imagine if we had to move Christmas to the 25th of July!
And so, people continued to celebrate the new year around the 1st of April.
Those who embraced the new calendar started to mock the reluctant ones.
And gave them false presents and played tricks on them!”
French Moments
What’s the Deal With Fish?
No one really knows what the big deal is about fish. According to French Moments, “On April 1, people use paper fish to play an April Fools’ trick. This involves sticking a paper fish onto the back of as many adults as possible. And then running away yelling “Poisson d’Avril!” (April Fish!). Yes, you better check your back if you happen to be in France on that day!”
If you want to make your own French poissons d’avril, download them here.
Interestingly enough, April Fool’s Day as we say in English falls on December 28 in Spain. So, I guess I’m either three months late or nine months early to pull pranks on my son! He will just have to wait!
—The Cultural Story-Weaver
My Gift to You—Get Your Free Ebook—”The 5-Day Journey to Cultural Awareness”!
Let’s Weave Cultures!
Do you have April Fool’s Day or Le Poisson d’Avril in your country? If so, what do you do?
We invite you to tell us your own cultural stories and global adventures . . . as you engage with the world, breaking down barriers, building bridges, and “weaving cultures”! Write about them in the comment box below.
