# Did anyone live in a 'Blue Law' state? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 19, 2016, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044 "2016-10-19T17:48:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr\_Quatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc8723/32.png) [@Mr\_Quatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Quatro)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044/1 "2016-10-19T17:48:20Z")
If so could you tell us of your memories? I did live in the great state of Texas back in the 70’s and it still had blue laws … even women’s panty hose were covered up and not for sale on Sunday. Blue Law > [@](#): > > a law prohibiting certain activities, such as shopping, on a Sunday. > (in colonial New England) a strict religious law, particularly one preventing entertainment or leisure activities on a Sunday. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044/2 "2016-10-19T17:58:01Z")
They were in effect in Arkansas until the early 80’s. Very few stores were open on Sunday. The exceptions were restaurants, grocery stores, and one drug store was open only to fill prescriptions. The drug stores took turns alternating who would be open on Sunday (in my town of 20,000). Grocery stores would chain off certain aisles on Sunday. You couldn’t buy small appliances, houseware items, gift items on Sunday. Only food or drinks. No booze sold on Sunday then. That’s still true in stores today. You can get a beer at a restaurant. I remember one clever challenge to the blue laws. Jewelry stores started opening to “show” jewelry on Sunday. You could ask them to set it aside. Then come in Monday to pay and take it home. That lasted a few months until the state cracked down. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044/3 "2016-10-19T17:58:54Z")
heres a list of states and their blue laws. While relaxed over time, I think you still have people living in states with Blue Laws > **[Blue laws in the United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_laws_in_the_United_States)** > > Blue laws, also known as Sunday laws, are laws that restrict or ban some or all activities on specified days (most often on Sundays in the western world), particularly to promote the observance of a day of rest. Such laws may restrict shopping or ban sale of certain items on specific days. Blue laws are enforced in parts of the United States and Canada as well as some European countries, particularly in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and Norway, keeping most stores closed on Sundays. > The U.S.... ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044/4 "2016-10-19T18:02:19Z")
Since the OP is asking for personal experiences, let’s move this to IMHO. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044/5 "2016-10-19T18:04:38Z")
I have never lived in a state (as the word is used in the US) but Sunday opening here was legalised in the '80s. When I was growing up in the '60s and '70s, stores were closed on Sunday and Monday so everybody (in retail at least) had some kind of 2 day weekend. If you ran out of milk on Saturday night, you could always get more on Tuesday. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044/6 "2016-10-19T18:12:53Z")
I was a child in Kansas in the '80s, so I don’t remember their liquor laws, though I understand there were plenty of restrictions on its sale. Then I lived in Indiana for twenty years. Liquor wasn’t sold on Sundays–that aisle would be roped off in the stores. Last time I encountered this restriction was 2008; I don’t know if they’ve repealed it or if it’s still that way. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044/7 "2016-10-19T18:17:46Z")
I went to college in North Dakota in the late 80s and early 90s. Coming from Minnesota, it was a real WTF moment discovering that a lot of shopping was off-limits on Sundays. While I was still attending, they changed the law to let all stores open on Sundays after noon - still restrictive, but better. > [@Wikipedia](#): > > North Dakota may have the strictest remaining blue law of the United States. Many goods and items are restricted from being sold between midnight and noon on Sunday, rendering virtually all retailers closed in those hours, including malls and some large retail chains; however, some businesses that open 24 hours, like grocery stores, are allowed to be open on Sunday. However, the big retail chain Walmart is closed. Prior to 1967, the law was stricter in that all businesses were closed from 12 a.m. Sunday to 12 a.m. Monday. In 1967, changes more clearly defined which businesses were exempt such as pharmacies, hospitals and restaurants. The changes were made after a 1966 blizzard, after which citizens were not able to purchase some needed goods and services due to the blue law. The law changed once more in 1991 to allow businesses to open at noon on Sunday. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044/8 "2016-10-19T18:18:15Z")
The county I live in now prohibits liquor sales before Noon on Sundays, which achieves some social imperative, but I can’t imagine what. Sunday morning is a great time to go to the supermarket, there is hardly anybody in there until noon. I lived in Kansas when it was illegal to serve liquor by the drink in a place that was open to the general public. There were a lot of private clubs. I lived in a dry county in Florida where liquor had to be bought outside the county, and then taken home for consumption. No bars, no liquor sales. I lived in New Brunswick when it was illegal to serve alcoholic beverages in a place that women were allowed into. I lived in Maine when all stores were closed on Sundays, with a few permitted exceptions. In some (maybe all) Canadian provinces, gas stations were closed on Sundays as recently as maybe 1970. Each city would have a rotating schedule of one station that would be open on Sunday. Not sure if that was a law, or just an agreement among gas station owners. Into the 60s, Quebec did not plow the roads on Sundays if it snowed. Quebec outright banned drive-in movie theaters, and I believe still does to this day. The city I grew up in (Wisconsin), nothing was open on Sundays, even restaurants or supermarkets, until the 1980s. Not by law, but by the shaming power of the predominant church denomination. Which did not impede a very high density of taverns open 6 days a week. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044/9 "2016-10-19T18:22:04Z")
I was lucky growing up in the 70’s. The blue laws had relaxed a little. I mentioned in my earlier post they went away sometime in the early 80’s in Arkansas. I don’t recall a specific date. Suddenly the houseware aisles at the grocery weren’t roped off anymore on Sunday. I’m pretty sure everything was closed on Sunday when my parents were kids. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044/10 "2016-10-19T18:28:01Z")
> [@Mr\_Quatro](#): > > I did live in the great state of Texas back in the 70’s and it still had blue laws … even women’s panty hose were covered up and not for sale on Sunday. Texas still has blue laws. You can’t buy liquor on Sunday, beer or wine before noon on Sunday, and car dealerships cannot be open both Saturday and Sunday. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044/11 "2016-10-19T18:28:12Z")
CT has relatively relaxed blue laws, but weirdness prevails. We just allowed liquor sales on Sunday, although everyone including the independent liquor stores claimed it would drive them all out of business for having to stay open an additional day and hours. (No, the argument makes no sense. As none have yet gone out of business in two years, either… but the \*zeitgeist \*here is to cling to the status quo as though all alternatives lead straight to the eve of destruction. Rationalization is the state sport.) ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044/12 "2016-10-19T18:34:38Z")
Texas. I remember being at the grocery store with my mother. It wasn’t until after the cashier had checked all the groceries that she realized: “Oops! I wasn’t supposed to check those pantyhose.” With pursed lips, the cashier gives the “go ahead” nod to the bagger as he winced when he surreptitiously threw the pantyhose in the bag. After the exchange, they all stood there in a brief moment of silence as they gave each other a knowing look. As if the three of them had just buried a dead body together and they can never speak of this moment again. We had just moved to Texas from another state that didn’t have Blue Laws. I had to ask my mother what the heck that was all about. After she explained it to me, I couldn’t help thinkg: What the fuckity fuck!? ---
**Author:** ![Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shinna_Minna_Ma)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044/13 "2016-10-19T18:40:45Z")
Yup, I grew up in Maryland in the 1960s and 70s, and there were certainly blue laws. I remember signs across the beer coolers in 7-11 with signs reading “No Sunday Liquor Sales.” Almost all the stores were closed, except for the Hebrew book stores and kosher grocery stores. There was a shopping center near where we lived called Reisterstown Road Plaza; my dad would take me there on Sundays and we would window shop because everything was closed. The Muzak, however, continued to play through the speakers. Baltimore Colts’ games were not allowed to begin before 2 p.m., which I understand caused quite a problem for the networks at the time. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044/14 "2016-10-19T18:44:29Z")
Remember when all the barbershops were closed on Monday? That gave them a 2 day weekend. Since blue laws required them to close on Sunday. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044/15 "2016-10-19T19:11:34Z")
Been a New Yorker since 1984. A place as cosmopolitan as New York City would not be what comes to mind when you think of blue laws, probably, but yeah it was illegal to sell beer on Sunday mornings (midnight until noon if I recall correctly) and illegal to sell liquor on Sunday at all (except, I guess, by the glass as your beverage of choice in diners and restaurants that offered them as part of your meal). These are laws that only changed quite recently so damn never everyone living here has had experience with the blue laws. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Quatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc8723/32.png) [@Mr\_Quatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Quatro)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044/16 "2016-10-19T19:16:56Z")
> [@Turek](#): > > Texas still has blue laws. You can’t buy liquor on Sunday, beer or wine before noon on Sunday, and car dealerships cannot be open both Saturday and Sunday. I didn’t know that I left Texas in 1977 for California … I was a sailboat salesman and my wife was a car sales lady. The blue laws were in effect then, at least in Houston, due to all of the counties had their own version of blue laws. My wife couldn’t work on Sunday which made it great for me, because all of my sales were usually on Sunday and she was able to care of the children. I had no idea that particular law was still in effect. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Quatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc8723/32.png) [@Mr\_Quatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Quatro)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044/17 "2016-10-19T19:25:31Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > Texas. > > I remember being at the grocery store with my mother. It wasn’t until after the cashier had checked all the groceries that she realized: “Oops! I wasn’t supposed to check those pantyhose.” > With pursed lips, the cashier gives the “go ahead” nod to the bagger as he winced when he surreptitiously threw the pantyhose in the bag. > > After the exchange, they all stood there in a brief moment of silence as they gave each other a knowing look. As if the three of them had just buried a dead body together and they can never speak of this moment again. > We had just moved to Texas from another state that didn’t have Blue Laws. I had to ask my mother what the heck that was all about. After she explained it to me, I couldn’t help thinkg: What the fuckity fuck!? I even remember women’s hygiene products had a white sheet over that portion of the isle in a major drug store chain no less (not that I ever had to buy any that is lol) ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044/18 "2016-10-19T19:25:43Z")
in Indiana I remember that most stores couldn’t even sell hard liquor and you couldn’t go into a liquor store unless you were 18 Now if you grew up there no biggie but I mostly lived in ca and out here liquor stores are 7-11’s with hard booze behind the counter and wine and mixed canned drinks in a locked fridge and I went back for a visit and I was 16 one Monday I go in for a coke candy bar and newspaper and man the cashier threw a fit … he wouldn’t even ring up the sale threathened to call the cops I just put my stuff on the counter and was going to go when the manager came out to see what the problem was and told me I wasn’t supposed ot be there and then he read my id and realized I was from cali he just explained how it worked back there so we made an arrangement and every day after he came to the door and handed me my stuff and I handed him the 2.50 Not that we had to do that as I knew and was related to the sheriff …(and still related to 40 percent of Howard county ) Funny thing was the store had just been allowed to sell non booze items a couple of years before ---
**Author:** ![davey77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90ced4/32.png) [@davey77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davey77)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044/19 "2016-10-19T19:34:25Z")
I have this vague and possibly mistaken memory that grocery stores were open in Quebec on Sunday, but with a severely limited staff, so the checkout lines made one say, “Tabarnac”!! ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044/20 "2016-10-19T20:06:24Z")
Indiana - No package alcohol sales on Sunday (with an exception for breweries), You can still go out and get liquored up at a bar though. Kentucky -About 5 months in a county that had no alcohol sales at all. That’s since been changed. Michigan - No vehicle sales on Sunday except in low population areas. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-live-in-a-blue-law-state/769044.md?page=2)