Hey there, all you Pranksters!

As opposed to last year’s pranking post in which I relayed the “history” of April Fools’ Day (and then proceeded to flat-out LIE about every bit of it), today I would like to give you an actually ACCURATE account concerning the beginnings of this peculiar holiday. All joking aside, this is the honest origin of April Fools’ Day—for serious….

To be perfectly honest, nobody REALLY knows exactly how this day began, however, we have a couple good ideas.

IDEA #1: Some people feel that there is substantial, historical record of April Fools’ Day in Chaucer’s story, ‘The Nun’s Priest’s Tale’ within the classic ‘Canterbury Tales’. It’s postulated by some scholars and historians that this story about a fool who is tricked is noted by the narrator to have taken place on April 1.

If this ‘Canterbury Tales’ reference were confirmed, it would be the first-discovered record of an April Fools’ Day, dating back to 1392! However, enthusiastically debated, this theory has mostly been debunked, though some maintain that ‘The Canterbury Tales’ contains the earliest record of April Fools’.

IDEA #2: More likely, April Fools’ Day was born in the 16 Century when Pope Gregory XIII implemented the Gregorian calendar which brought about a radical change that moved the first day of the year (which had always been April 1) to the first of JANUARY!

Without the lightning-fast media of our current day, news took a very long time to reach everybody. Those who were unaware continued to celebrate the new year on April 1 and were promptly ridiculed as ‘April Fools’ by others who were hip to the new calendar.

Spawning a celebratory craze the world over, April Fools’ Day has evolved into a lighthearted day of (hopefully harmless) and creative tricks. Check out the informative video below and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, all you Lucky Folks out there!

Everybody knows that you don’t HAVE TO be Irish in order to celebrate St. Patty’s Day. Whether people are Irish or not, they still dress up in green, throw parades, and eat corned beef and cabbage all around the world! After all, who doesn’t want to have the luck of the Irish?

…actually…

Now that I think of it, where does the phrase ‘Luck of the Irish’ even come from? Everybody seems to think that this phrase refers to the wealth of good luck that’s forever blessed the rolling, green fields of Ireland. But when you stop and think about it, there’s nothing lucky about the Irish!

Their abundant rainfall and overcast skies, not to mention the endless turmoil  that their rainy country has seen for centuries, adds up to make for a decidedly UNlucky bunch of people. Could it be an ironic phrase (as it remains nonspecific as to what KIND of luck we’re talking about here)? Well, yes. But that isn’t the whole story.

The phrase didn’t actually originate in Ireland; it started over here in the United States during the Gold Rush of the 1800’s. As Irish folk were making their way over to America, they hopped on board the gold mining frenzy. Semi-successful at it, the phrase ‘Luck of the Irish’ was born.

Rather than any words of encouragement, however, this phrase was coined as a means of poking fun at the Irish. What was meant by it was that the Irish weren’t bright enough to strategically find gold—it had to be chocked up to luck. This is likely where the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow comes from as well.

In any case, whether the Irish are lucky or not, celebrate St. Patrick’s Day today with some green articles of clothing and some corned beef and cabbage for dinner. And, as always, thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

Do you like apples? Well, believe it or not, you may have never tasted one if it wasn’t for a man named John Chapman. What’s that? You’ve never HEARD of John Chapman? Well, I find that rather hard to believe, but…Oh! Wait! You probably know him better as Johnny Appleseed—the seed planting pioneer who traveled the western frontier around the turn of the 18th Century.

‘The West’ in the late 1700s was completely uncharted territory. And the known ‘frontier’ consisted of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and other surrounding areas. Born and raised in Pennsylvania, when Johnny first journeyed out, he brought the gift of apples to the frontier. Living a nomadic lifestyle, he would stay in people’s cabins from one night to the next as he was a very friendly and extremely charismatic guy.
Though a lot can be said about the legend of Johnny Appleseed, separating the truth from the myths that enshroud him is a rather difficult task. Extremely famous in his own time, John Chapman received the nickname Johnny Appleseed while alive and young.

It wasn’t hard for such a popular guy to accrue a mythical identity. Legends about the man grew quickly.

It can’t be said for sure that he wore a tin pot for a hat or a burlap coffee sack for a shirt; but we do know that the common notion of Mr. Appleseed planting seeds at random wherever his journeys took him is false. In fact, Johnny had his own system down to a science:

He did not plant orchards, instead he thought of them as nurseries. Indeed, they were: he built fences around the trees he planted to provide them with protection from livestock. He built these ‘nurseries’ and left them in the hands of neighbors who recruited as reliable caretakers. Johnny would then return every other year or so to lend his own personal care to the nursery.

Thanks to his hard work and passion for his occupation, John Chapman brought the gift of apple trees to North America in such great abundance that people confuse it for an American fruit. Thank you, Johnny. Happy Johnny Appleseed Day and, as always, thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

Ever wonder about the history of your camping gear, when it was invented, and why? We do here at Everything Summer Camp. That’s why this Blog takes a day here and there to investigate the origins of specific gear and other camp supplies. Today: binoculars.

In order to discuss the history of binoculars, however, we first need to take a good look at telescopes. Binoculars, after all, are only mini-telescopes that have been aligned and mounted together. Using lenses that people grind in particular ways, telescopes allow you to magnify your vision of faraway objects to make them appear close-up.

Glass-making and lens-grinding was already a booming industry by the late 1500s. Interestingly, the first guy to discover what two lenses can do when pointed at each other was likely just some eye-glass maker, Joe Schmoe who just happened to be fiddling around at work one day.

It was another eye-glass maker, a man named Hans Lippershey, who actually took this intriguing discovery and used it to invent the telescope.  And, while Hans’ telescope was immediately praised by the masses, within a few years, people wanted something you could use with both eyes. It wasn’t long before Hans went to work tweaking the telescope, shrinking it, and mounting a pair of them together.

The binoculars were born (as well as its precursor, the telescope) all within a few years of the year 1610. ‘Spyglasses,’ as they came to be called, were a huge hit that often found themselves in high demand but low on supply because of how much more intricate the work was to build a pair of them as opposed to the involvement of building a single telescope.

Despite the intensive labor involved, binoculars did not deliver a crystal clear image. Because of their small scale, it was difficult for manufacturers to grind the lenses with accurate precision. Even so, people loved using them for birdwatching, going to the opera, and simple enjoyment. Everyone thought they were good enough back then.

Named after the great astronomer, these binoculars are called Galilean Binoculars. We’ve been improving on binocular construction since the 1800’s creating the Prism, Porro Prism, and—the latest—Prismatic Binoculars. Binoculars are still frequently used today for stargazing, police work, and even advanced military missions.

Get your own pair of binoculars today, and thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, Boys and Girls!

Do you know what today is? Yes, it’s February 19—but what else? Well, it happens to be the Chinese New Year. What?! Yes! It’s true. But how can China ring in the New Year today? you might be asking yourself—it isn’t January 1! Well, it may be a little hard to believe, but the New Year hasn’t always been celebrated on this date.  

But how can the new year change days? Well, it isn’t that the new year changed days so much as it is, people started using different calendars (or making up their own if need be). The ancient Babylonians celebrated their New Year’s Day late in March around the vernal equinox.

The first Roman calendar had only 10 months and it contained just over 300 days. Then, in the year 46 B.C., Julius Caesar first presented his Julian calendar (which closely resembles the Gregorian calendar—the one that we know and love here in the U.S.), but had to add 90 extra days just to make it all work!

The Chinese New Year is observed throughout the second new moon after the winter solstice, which is why it is also referred to as the ‘Lunar New Year’ in most Asian countries. The Chinese New Year celebration starts on the first day of the first month and goes until the moon is brightest (approximately 15 days).

Since China adopted the Western calendar in 1912, the Chinese do join in on celebrating New Year’s Day on January 1, but they also continue to recognize a shorter version of the Chinese New Year that they now call the Spring Festival.

One of the most popular traditions of the Chinese New Year is the celebration of the Dragon Dance in which performers hold a craft-dragon by poles to raise and lower it. In Chinese legend, dragons are always considered helpful, friendly creatures. They are linked to good luck, long life, and wisdom. They also perform the equally popular lion dance as seen in the video below.

Happy New Year and thanks for reading!

- John