Silly, Crazy U.S. Laws from the Past

Laws are made for a reason. Someone sees a need for a law, rallies to get it passed and soon, the law becomes a reality. For whatever reason many silly laws still exist on the books today. Once upon a time a need arose for these laws, apparently, but as time went by, the laws were no longer needed or became outdated. Still, looking back on some of these laws makes one wonder why in the world they were ever put on the books in the first place, and in some instances, why they were never removed from the books.

All 50 states are guilty of having some of these crazy laws at one time and all 50 states still show silly laws listed on the books. One such law is from the southern state of Alabama. The law states that putting salt on a railroad track may be punishable by death. Also in Alabama, you may not have an ice cream cone in your back pocket at any time.

In Alaska it’s an offense to push a live moose out of a moving plane. It’s also illegal to wake a sleeping bear just to take his photograph. And in Arizona hunting camels was once prohibited Any misdemeanor committed while wearing a red mask is considered a felony! And, donkeys are not allowed to sleep in bathtubs. In Arkansas it’s illegal for dogs to bark after 6 pm. It’s also illegal to walk your cow down Main Street after 1:00 p.m. on Sundays.

In California animals are banned from mating in public within 1500 feet of a school or place of worship. It’s a crime to shoot any kind of game from a moving vehicle – unless it’s a whale. And, women are not allowed to drive in a housecoat. In Colorado a person cannot mutilate a rock in a state park. It’s also against the law to bring your horse or mule above the first story of any building. And in Connecticut it’s unlawful to walk backwards after sunset and you can’t cross the street while walking on your hands.

In Delaware people aren’t allowed to change clothes in a vehicle. In Florida it was once illegal for a woman to fall asleep under a hair dryer. And a single woman was prohibited from parachuting on Sundays. You also couldn’t sing in a public place while wearing a bathing suit. In Georgia it was illegal to use profanity in front of a dead body at a funeral home. And, all citizens had to own a rake. It was also against the law to tie a giraffe to a telephone pole or street lamp.

In Idaho, once upon a time, it was illegal to fish on a camel’s back. Riding a merry-go-round on a Sunday was also a crime. In Iowa a man with a mustache was forbidden to kiss a woman in public. And in Kansas rabbits couldn’t be shot from motorboats and fish couldn’t not be caught with bare hands.

Louisiana had some interesting laws as well: no stealing alligators, you couldn’t rob a bank then shoot the teller with a water pistol, and don’t dare gargle in a public place. Maryland’s quirky laws: no thistles may grow in your yard, no throwing bales of hay from a second-story window, no taking lions to the movies.

Times certainly have change in Michigan, since once, it was against the law for any woman to cut her hair without her husband’s permission. Willfully destroying your old radio was cause for arrest as well. Upsetting squirrels, in Missouri, was once illegal. And minors couldn’t buy cap pistols but they could purchase shotguns.

In Montana it was once illegal to have a sheep in the cab of your truck without a chaperon. It was also a felony for a wife to open her husband’s mail. Unmarried women were not allowed to fish alone. In Nevada it was against the law for a man to buy drinks for more than three people in the same day. And, in New Jersey, it’s against the law to wear a bullet-proof vest while committing a murder.

In New York it was against the law to throw a ball at someone’s head just for fun. You had to have a license to hang your clothes on a clothesline. While riding in an elevator you were prohibited from speaking to anyone else. Slippers could not be worn after 10:00 p.m. and men were prohibited from walking outside wearing a jacket and pants that didn’t match.

In Ohio women were forbidden to wear patent leather shoes in public. It was illegal to fish for whales on Sunday or to get a fish drunk. In Pennsylvania you were not allowed to sing in the bathtub. Cleaning ordinances forbade women to sweep dirt under the rug. In South Carolina it was against the law to get a tattoo or to sell musical instruments on Sundays.

In Tennessee it was once illegal to sell hollow logs, lasso a fish, or make your child pick up trash from the highway on Easter Sunday. In Virginia it was illegal to tickle women, wash a mule on the sidewalk, or to physically kick your wife out of bed. Lollipops were once banned in Washington and it was illegal to paint polka dots on the American flag. People couldn’t buy a mattress on Sunday and it was definitely illegal to pretend as though your parents are rich.