ALL FOOLS DAY

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 05, Issue 36, 1 April 1942, Page 4

ALL FOOLS DAY

LIGHT hearted Merrie England of the middle ages initiated the observance of All Fools' Day, though why April the First was set aside for the celebration is one of the mysteries which surrounds the origins of most of our famous anniversaries. From the simplicity of rustic England, springs the quaint old ceremony of merry making and laughter. April Fool, was the legitimate gag applied by all classes of people to the victims of harmless practical jokes. It was a day of celebration and fun —-when whole communities turned out to watch the maypole dancing and the games which were played by young and, old. Cap and bells —the jester was the centre of all the fun and this worthy set himself out to be as great a fool as possible in order to create laughter and jollity. The old customs of the past have longsince lost their meaning. The dancing and the feasting lies buried in the far off annals of time when simpler things pleased and joy was never artificial. To-day in Whaka,tane we mark the day with the faint echo of its past importance, by merely a catch-word or two of innocent foolery. In common with the world at large we exercise the only remnant we have retained of the old feast of laughter and happiness.