No, The Neon Museum is not launching a “neon-scented” line of fragrances – neon gas is scentless and is found naturally in the air, so it would have been an empty bottle anyway. It should be noted, however, that neon should still be handled with care, as it can serve as an asphyxiatant by displacing breathable air in confined spaces. What we can offer, however, in honor of April Fools’ Day, is a brief explanation on the origins of April Fools’ Day and this fabulous .GIF of Hollywood superstar (and Las Vegas local!), Nicolas Cage:
While the exact origins of April Fools’ Day are uncertain, one of the prevailing theories dates back to France in the 1500s. The Julian calendar, in which the new year began on April 1, was slowly being replaced with the Gregorian calendar—still in use across the world today—in which the new year begins on January 1 (Winick, 2016). As the news reached different parts of the world via commerce and travel, those of whom still celebrated the start of a new year on April 1 were ridiculed as being April Fools (Rutgers, 2024). Across the world, April Fools’ Day traditions vary greatly from culture to culture. In France, for example, Poisson d’Avril or “April Fish” involves pinning paper fish onto the backs of friends, classmates, or even unsuspecting passerby (Britannica, n.d.). In Iran, the beginning of April commemorates the celebration of Sizdah Bedar (Langness, 2024), which dates as far back as the 5th Century B.C. and is spent picnicking and playing practical jokes (Willingham, 2024).
Despite these April Fools’ Day traditions having timeworn origins, modern methods of commemorating the holiday have embraced new mediums and technology, particularly the Internet. One of the most enduring Internet pranks, the Rickroll, first began in the 2007, and was subsequently popularized on April Fools’ Day 2008, in which YouTube “Rickroll’d” millions of its users around the world (Arrington, 2008). Upon clicking on one of YouTube’s “featured videos,” users were redirected to a video of Rick Astley performing his 1987 song, Never Gonna Give You Up (Fox News, 2008) (Wortham, 2008). Today, various iterations of the Rickroll exist, all of which involve the promise of something enticing or unbelievable, with a bait and switch to something bizarre and unrelated entirely.