Blue Laws

Many retailers tried to get a jump on Black Friday by opening up stores on Thanksgiving night. Not in Massachusetts, thanks to the Blue Laws. That's what you get when you let puritans settle an area. Mind, I don't think this particular ban is bad. There are some pretty silly laws still in the Massachusetts General Code.

1. Bullets may not be used as currency.  In God we trust, but all others pay cash.

2. Tomatoes may not be used in the production of clam chowder. Damn straight. You want tomatoes in you chowdah, go to Noo Yawk.

3. This one pertains to Boston: Women may not wear heels over three inches in length on the (Boston) Common. This one makes sense. The grade walking up Beacon Hill to the state house is pretty steep. Hard to do in flats, let alone in heels.

4. Again a Boston ordinance: Peanuts may not be eaten in church. I guess that means you can eat pistachio nuts, walnuts, or cashews and not worry about getting arrested. Keep the shells or container as evidence, just in case.

5. No person shall stable a horse or a mule on the second floor or on any higher floor. There seems to be a loophole to this law saying it does not pertain to cities. Students during the early 1960's  at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester persuaded a cow upstairs in Hanselman Hall. (The college used to maintain a dairy farm at the college) They must have been law students. But, your Honor, the defendants enticed a bovine into the building. Not a horse or a mule. And respectfully, your Honor, the statute does not apply to animals in cities. Worcester is a city even if people from Boston don't think so.

6. One more. This one pertains to the city of Marlborough. You may not detonate a nuclear device in Marlborough. Maybe that's why one of the large engineering firms that works on defense contracts built their facility in nearby Sudbury.

Any silly, blue laws from your state? And thanks to Erica for the suggestion.