The United States of America has some strange laws. There are some that are almost impossible to be put in practice in every day life and some that are the most random laws I have read throughout my research.
There are hundreds of unusual laws but these are some interesting ones I have found;
Some of the laws that exist seem like they are trying to prevent business from making a profit. Even though they may have protected consumers in the past nowadays they are unconventional.
In Philadelphia it is against the law because of an act passed in 1970 to put pretzels in a bag. This means that as you are walking down a crisp aisle in Philadelphia and you see bags of salted pretzels you are witnessing the law being broken.
In New Jersey it is illegal to sell cabbages on a Sunday. This isn't a very helpful law when it comes to making Sunday dinner, maybe we should just be glad this law doesn't exist in Ireland!
In San Jose and Sunnyvale grocery stores are not permitted to provide plastic bags to their customers. Even though this law may be environmentally friendly it is not very conventional.
In Massachusetts it is considered to be illegal to add tomatoes to a clam chowder. I understand that clam chowder may be considered to be a speciality there but nowadays chefs are coming up with unusual food combinations and they should not be limited to what vegetables they can add to a clam chowder.
In Virginia it is against the law for chickens to lay eggs before 8am and all eggs must be laid before 4pm. This law defies biology in my opinion and I think that is very unfair for the chickens. I also don't know what they would do with the eggs that were not laid during the permitted times.
Some of the laws that existed were thought to be for the benefit of society, I just see them to be unfair. Some of these laws are very sexist towards women and I am grateful that they are not put into practice nowadays.
In California it is not permitted for a woman to drive a car wearing her housecoat (dressing gown). This law was more likely than not created for the benefit of appearance. It is not something that I am very likely to do in my everyday life but I don't understand how this law was created in the first place.
In Cicero you may not hum on the streets if it is a Sunday. I can see this law being broken quite often because humming is one of those things that you don't realise you are doing.
I thought this law was interesting as there are many jokes made about "women drivers". In Memphis, Tennessee a woman was only permitted to drive a car if a man warns all pedestrians and motorists nearby that it is a woman driving.
There were some laws based on animals that I read that I thought were crazy. I don't understand how someone was prosecuted for committing one of these;
In Alaska it is against the law to look at a moose from the window of an air plane so be wary as you fly into Alaska.
Another animal related law in Galveston, Texas is that a camel is forbidden from running loose down the streets. I didn't even know that there was that that many camels around the Texas area.
The final animal law is that in Boise it is illegal to fish off the back off a giraffe. This is a law that I can see being broken constantly!
Sometimes what people don't realise is that there is more to law than meets the eye. There is a very interesting history with wacky and unusual things in it and hopefully this blog will open your eyes to that.
