What Are Blue Laws?

This regulation was put in place for a very specific reason and is based on religious beliefs about the observance of a day of rest (Sunday). The law was meant to keep people from shopping on this day, in an attempt to enforce the belief that no business should be conducted on the holy day.

Over a period of years, most of the blue laws have been declared unconstitutional or have been repealed in response to public protest. There are some locations in the United States that still have prohibitions against selling alcohol drinks on Sunday. In a sort of compromise, some of these laws have been softened so that some selling and buying can take place during limited hours on Sunday.

Most records indicate that the term “blue law” was applied to the restriction of commerce as early as the 18th century or even the 17th century. In many of these local laws, the government leaders restricted sales of certain types of goods and services.

Some have proposed that the first laws of this type were printed on blue paper or in small books with blue covers, hence the name. But most accurate economic histories show that the term “blue” was used because the people who held to the strict religious beliefs were scathingly referred to as being “blue noses.” Others have argued that an 18th century pastor and community leader simply invented the term, though his reason for choosing the color blue is unknown.

Some of these laws carried into the 19th and 20th centuries, especially in southern and Midwestern states. Most of the laws were aimed at saloons and liquor sellers. Historical records also show that Christian leaders tried to influence politicians and local government leaders to use blue laws against business owners who were of other faiths. Sometimes the laws even forbade recreational activities and home repair work.

Items not allowed to be sold included kitchen utensils and cookware, automobiles and laundry equipment such as washing machines. A number of states specifically targeted automobile sales. But oral history shows that the laws were put in place so that one auto dealer could be closed without having competition from another seller who chose to be open on the Sabbath day.

The laws were not necessarily limited to the United States. As with some of the laws against leisure-time activities on Sunday, some countries in Europe still have limited Sunday hours. Outside of the United States, laws prohibiting almost all activity on holy days were not called blue laws, but the practice of restricting work on that day goes back many centuries. These regulations were in effect long before the Christian era, so it is certainly the case that blue laws are not strictly religious in nature.

In the 21st century most of the blue laws still on the books apply to sales of alcohol. While liquor stores are open on Sunday in many states, hours are limited as compared to weekdays and Saturday. This often forces customers to go to another community or another state to purchase alcohol or other products.

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