Vol. 6 No 15
Twitterpated!!!
“Twitterpated” … to be silly or flighty (like a bird in spring) … a good description of the way many act on a certain day of the year. What day? Why, April 1, of course! Enjoy the tricks that have been played in celebration (?) of this day. And find and enjoy the article in this issue about that “Special Day in Early Spring”.
The First of April
By Barbara Ann Detweiler
Every year for a few years, the children called Grandma on the phone on April Fool’s Day and told her that one of us had broken a foot, or arm, or whatever and she, of course, believed them. They thought that was very funny. She finally got smart, so that doesn’t work anymore. My birthday is on April 1, so I guess you could say I’m a big joke!
Tricky Mom
Anonymous
A friend of mine had been urging her children to limit their time in the shower … hot water only lasts so long, you know. One day, searching for a reason they would respond to, she said that with all the minerals in their water, their skin and hair would turn rusty looking. They scoffed. So, come April first, she unscrewed the showerhead, filled it with a mixture of strawberry and orange Jell-O and replaced it. The joked worked. Another time, this tricky lady was asked by her son how a model of a ship gets into a bottle. He was good tempered and at the gullible age, so she told him that, if he’d help her, she’d show him. She got a bottle and told him to get some potting soil. He brought some and they spooned some into the bottle, laying it on its side. Then, she sent him to his father to ask for some “ship seeds”.
April 1, 2015
Historical April Fool’s Jokes
The Oldest Known April Fool’s Joke The Duke of Lorraine and his wife were imprisoned in Nantes in 1632. On April 1, 1632, they disguised themselves as peasants and, while the guards were making merry, they simply walked out the front gate. Someone saw them and told the guards who believed the warning to be an April Fool’s Day joke and laughed at it. The Duke and his wife, of course, escaped! (P.S. It is not known what, if any, part of this story is true.)
Washing the Lions This prank was recorded as early as 1698 and continued to be popular until the mid-1800s. Gullible victims (in more recent times, many of them tourists) were simply invited to the Tower of London on the First of April to see the “Ceremony of the Washing of the Lions” kept in the Tower Zoo there.
Home Grown Spaghetti In 1957, BBC (British Broadcasting Company) news reported that because of the mild winter and the lack of natural pests, Switzerland’s spaghetti harvest was excellent and those who had gardens and grew their own spaghetti were also reporting fruitful production. The BBC received many calls from people interested in growing their own spaghetti. They told these people to simply place a “sprig” of spaghetti in tomato sauce.
TV Stockings In 1962, Sweden’s only TV channel announced that the station’s shows could be seen in color if one cut up one’s stockings and placed them over the TV screen. They said this would bend the light to make the picture appear Continued on page 7
PLAIN PAGES (published in the Middlefield Post): Wednesday, April 15. Deadline: Friday, April 3. Next issue: PLAIN COUNTRY: Wednesday, May 13. Deadline: Friday, May 6. See details on page 2.