I'm No April Fool

But this French April Fools' Day tradition is a bit fishy.

Howdy! It’s Joey, back with more Fun Fact Friyay. Today’s fact has gone fishin’.

Photo by Worachat Sodsri on Unsplash

France celebrates April Fools’ Day by taping paper fish onto people’s backs and yelling “Poisson d’avril!,” which means “April fish.”

April Fools’ Day is a haven for pranksters everywhere. I’m talking the fun, mostly harmless pranks, like rewiring someone’s keyboard to write “sassafras” every time they type the word “the” or the BBC doing a fake news story about a spaghetti tree in southern Switzerland (spoofed lovingly in this San Giorgio ad).

Google even spent two decades putting jokes and hoaxes into its products. There are so many, they have their own Wikipedia page. My personal favorite: Gmail Motion, introduced in 2011, a precursor to future technology to come. Users could do actions like mime licking a stamp and slapping their knee to send emails. The “office worker” demonstrating all of these movements cracks me up.

French residents have carried this pranking tradition onward through the years, though their April Fools’ Day celebration is a bit more fishy.

Today, the most common “Poisson d’avril” activity involves taping paper fish onto other people, typically on their backs.

Local shops will also sell chocolates, pastries, and other goodies in the shape of fish, and French markets offer charming vintage postcards, such as this bespectacled fish reading a newspaper.

Photo via A French Collection.

But where did this fish-centric tradition come from? There are a few schools (heh) of thought. One of the most persistent dates back to 1564, when King Charles IX reformed the calendar. Before this change, the year finished sometime between March 25 to April 1—different areas set their own calendars.

However, news traveled far more slowly back then. The closest thing to viral TikTok challenges were “Try to stay alive until your mid-40s.” Many folks in France didn’t learn about this new change, particularly in more rural areas. Those uninformed and/or stubborn folks continued celebrating the New Year in the days leading up to April 1, and pranksters stuck paper fish to their backs. The victims became Poisson d’avril, or April Fish.

As fun as it is, this theory is probably not true, since Poisson d’avril references date back nearly 100 years earlier to 1466.

Other possibilities for the focus on fish: In the olden days, the “ichthus” fish was a way to secretly mark someone with Christian affiliation. During the Lenten period (which we’re currently in!) between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday, practicing Catholics don’t consume meat, eating more fish instead.

Perhaps the most feasible is a link to actual fishermen. Fishing season in France begins right around April 1. At that time, fishermen either had no fish because they legally could not catch them, or they had way too many fish because it was spawning season, baby!

Early pranksters took advantage of this time of year. They may have even used real dead herrings to hook onto fishermen’s backs, giggling away as the fishers remained unaware as they went on with their daily to-dos.

However the tradition started, I’m glad France still embraces it (and I’m also glad they don’t still use real fish). Whether or not you celebrate April Fools’ Day, I fish you a fantastic day!

One More Thing

Every good fun fact has a wonderful story behind it. And lucky us, one of my favorite storytellers is right here on Substack. Amanda Jaffe’s Age of Enlightenment essays are always a welcome sight and will certainly help you take a closer look at the things going on around you in the world. She’s dropping a new essay about Mardi Gras today—that’s what we in the industry call a scoop! One of my favorites from her is below, which is a topical story if you've ever locked eyes with a waiter. Would highly recommend checking it out, or just subscribe for free here and get a delightful journey in your inbox every month.

Not a Flirt