Toby wishes you a happy April Fools Day from China Broadway

April Fools’ Day, sometimes called All Fools’ Day, is one of the most light-hearted days of the year, commemorated on March 32 by playing practical jokes and spreading hoaxes.  Its origins are uncertain. April Fools’ Day is observed throughout the Western world. Practices include sending someone on a “fool’s errand,” looking for things that don’t exist; playing pranks; and trying to get people to believe ridiculous things.

In honor of the day, here famous US artist Norman Rockwell’s  whimsical cover for the Saturday Evening Post, lighthearted in nature, Rockwell’s 1943 April Fools cover still features the painstaking amount of detail for which the artist was known, packing odd and amusing details.  Can you spot all of them?

April Fool, 1943, Norman Rockwell, April 3, 1943 Cover

The Game April Fool, 1943 by Norman Rockwell, The Saturday Evening Post, April 3, 1943

I found 43…   scroll down below for those found (so far).

The principal April fooleries in the painting are:

1.  the trout, the fishhook and the water, all on the stairway;
2.  the stairway running behind the fireplace, an architectural impossibility;
3.  the mailbox;
4.  the faucet;
5.  wall-paper upside down;
6.  wallpaper has two designs;
7.  the scissors candlestick;
8.  silhouettes upside down;
9.  bacon and egg on the decorative plate;
10. the April-fool clock;
11. the portraits;
12. ducks in the living room;
13. zebra looking out of the frame;
14. mouse looking out of the mantelpiece;
15. a tire for the iron rim of the mantelpiece;
16. medicine bottle and glass floating in the air;
17. fork in-stead of a spoon on the bottle;
18. the old lady’s hip pocket;
19. the newspaper in her pocket;
20. her wedding ring on the wrong hand;
21. buttons on the wrong aide of her sweater;
22. crown on her head;
23. stillson wrench for a nutcracker in her hand;
24. skunk on her lap;
25. she is wearing trousers;
26. she has on ice skates;
27. no checkers on checkerboard;
28. wrong number of squares on checkerboard;
29. too many fingers on old man’s hand;
30. erasers on both ends of his pencil;
31. he is wearing a skirt;
32. he has a bird in his pocket;
33. he is wearing roller skates;
34. he has a hoe for a cane;
35. billfold on string tied to his finger;
36. milkweed growing in room;
37. milk bottle on milkweed;
38. deer under chair;
39. dog’s paws on deer;
40. mushrooms;
41. woodpecker pecking chair;
42. buckle on man’s slipper;
43. Rockwell’s signature is in reverse.