Ontario was like that until the early 80s
That used to be the case in some very Protestant areas in Northern Ireland, and in some parts of Wales and Scotland there were local bylaws against alcohol sales on a Sunday. Most of those restrictions have gone, AFAIK.
I don’t think there were laws in the UK against working on a Sunday, rather general agreement between employers and unions, but even now there are still some legal restrictions on shop opening hours. It took a long campaign until the 1980s to get even that far, and there’s still tinkering with the rules
Late 80s, I’d suggest. My girlfriend at the time went crazy trying to find a place where the meat department was open, then a place where the bakery department was open, then a place where the produce department was open. Then, after driving all over hell’s half acre trying to get everything for our dinner—she was too tired to prepare it, leaving me, whose cooking skills were and still are next to nonexistent, to try. Not being a cook like her, it didn’t work out too well.
I recall that there was a Jewish business in Toronto that spearheaded the drive for Sunday shopping. It shut down for the Jewish Sabbath (Saturdays), but opened on Sundays, and collected plenty of fines and court actions for doing so before the courts said, “Enough, this guy has a good argument for being open on Sundays.” And Sunday shopping in Ontario was finally allowed.
ETA: The issue of drinking hours was hotly discussed also. Ontario demanded last call at 12:30 am for a close at 1:00 am, but that didn’t work on New Year’s Eve. The first year they loosened up on that, you’re damn straight I ordered a draft beer at 1:30 am for last call.
Until the 70s, Toronto’s downtown department stores had to draw curtains over their Christmas windows on Sundays.
No London (UK) transit services (bus, Underground, etc.) are operational on Christmas Day.
There was something similar when I was young, although it wasn’t a law - certain types of businesses (restaurants, bakeries,barbershops, hair salons) were traditionally closed on Mondays ( and sometimes Tuesdays) because they were open Saturday and/or Sunday. It wasn’t all the restaurants, etc - just the smaller ones where the owner was generally there whenever the business was open. It
That was Nortown Foods, our local butcher. They are still closed Saturdays.
I always wonder how much good those blue laws even do - sure, I can’t buy clothing in the warehouse club on Sundays. But the warehouse club doesn’t have to close on Sundays - it just ropes off the items that can’t be sold. So I’m still traveling there to shop for groceries, I just can’t decide to buy some socks while I’m there. Maybe the retail stores in American Dream are closed on Sunday* - but the restaurants and recreational activities can open and the football games and other events at MetLife stadium probably cause most of the Sunday traffic.
* They’ve been open Sundays for the past year or so and when they got sued, claimed the mall is exempt because it’s on state-owned land.
Not really, no; stores are universally closed in Germany on Sundays. Exceptions exist, e.g. for gas stations (which have turned into convenience stores for stuff you want to buy on a Sunday), but the general rule still stands. Also, in some parts of Germany you could be fined e.g. for mowing your lawn on a Sunday. I myself have at least been barked at by an elderly lady for moving furniture into my apartment on a Sunday.
[Never mind. Didn’t realize this was FQ]
From what I’ve been told by people who live in Paramus, it may not seem like much of a difference in traffic if you’re driving on Rt 4, but on residential streets it makes a huge impact.
Another is that you can look at cars on the lot on a Sunday and not be descended upon by a salesperson. We took advantage of that when we lived in Indiana, where the dealerships are closed on Sundays.
It was June or July of 1985. I was working in Columbia that summer, and you would have sworn the godless Russians were on their way down the Congaree the way the capitol newspaper was reporting on it. They still had the silly law of mixing your drink at your table from mini bottles, which I understand was dropped years later. I worked at a Sub Station II in Five Points, which was open on Sundays, but I believe the Food Lion down the street was closed, or partially closed.
In Kentucky, you could not buy food, but you could buy beer on Sundays. That ridiculousness ended in the very early 1970s when all sales were allowed. It wasn’t until about 25 years ago that liquor stores could be open on Sunday, but only after 1pm. The distributors have a strong lobby in Kentucky, such that distilleries can’t pull bottles of bourbon off of the production line to sell in their souvenir shops. They have to sell it to a distributor, who then sells it back to the distillery at a profit, for sales in the gift shop.
Calgary had Big M Drug Mart (that went to the Supreme Court!).
A propos Monday morning closures, I recall that when I was in Zurich for a year, at least some businesses were closed Monday mornings. The transit system sold weekly passes that were cheaper than 10 rides so a lot of people got them. But there was also a cheaper limited weekly pass that was valid only on weekdays during rush hours–and also all Monday mornings (till 13:00 as I recall).
Some states still restrict Sunday hunting. Pennsylvania recently liberalized their laws last year, now you can in state forests, but state parks are still limited to 3 specific days per year. Other states have only recently removed this restriction. I don’t think it’s motivated by religion so much as the Farm Bureau is powerful and for one reason or another wants to limit it. See also New Hampshire’s cannabis laws, fought against by the alcohol lobby.
Minnesota, too.
I served on a Legislative Commission on re-doing all non-felony laws, and we encountered this as one of the few remaining ’blue’ laws. And we were warned against touching it – that would bring opposition from auto dealerships (Republicans) and more opposition from employee groups (Democrats (DFLers in MN)).
For a while, some dealerships tried to get around the law by being open & making deals on Sunday, but you had to come back on Monday to actually sign the papers. But that was strongly opposed by employees, and eventually Courts saw thru that. Rumor was that employee groups helped ‘arrange’ the decoys used in court.
So dealerships went to leaving their lots open for drive-thru looking/shopping on Sundays, with no employees present. But now that seems to be ending, too – due to the easy availability of key fobs and reprogramming machines to car thief gangs.
Right here in good 'ole liberal Illinois we still have a “blue law” that bans the sale of alcoholic beverages on Sundays until 12:00 noon.
Almost forgot! We don’t allow the sale of alcoholic beverages in Beverly Hills at any time. It is a “dry” community. Cross Western Ave., and the avenue is lined with restaurants and bars.
This was addressed above, apparently many jurisdictions in Illinois have blue laws of various kinds, but the State itself doesn’t forbid Sunday morning liquor sales.
As I noted upthread (I live in Illinois, too), this appears to not be a state law, but laws/ordinances in many Illinois communities.
I think the principle was that, if you were buying fresh food on Monday morning, then somebody had worked to prepare it on Sunday, which was a no-no.
Québec still has pretty restrictive laws about opening hours. A test is being done this spring to allow stores to open on weekend evenings.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-retail-store-hour-extension-9.7113844