Weird Laws in Massachusetts

Massachusetts law takes the National Anthem very seriously. It dictates that one cannot play, sing, or render the 'Star Spangled Banner' as dance music, as an exit march, or as part of a musical medley. Doing so is considered disrespectful to the state and country and carries a fine.

A 1939 bill was supposedly introduced to protect the purity of New England clam chowder by explicitly banning tomatoes, a staple of the rival Manhattan style. While widely circulated today as a strict ban, it primarily reflects Massachusetts' deep culinary pride and historical disdain for modifying traditional local recipes.

According to local legend and old Puritanical medical beliefs, taking a bath was once considered dangerous to one's health unless specifically prescribed by a physician. While mostly a myth perpetuated over the years to mock Puritan laws, it highlights the region's rigid history regarding hygiene and morality.

In a bid to maintain the peace and quiet of residential neighborhoods, an old Boston ordinance makes it an offense to snore loudly with a bedroom window open. It was likely passed during an era of cramped urban housing where noise traveled easily between tenements and disturbed neighbors.

A frequently cited piece of Massachusetts legal trivia claims that it is illegal for a man to wear a goatee in public without paying a special fee. This supposed blue law dates back to times when unconventional facial hair was viewed as an affront to polite society and public decorum.

It is an actual crime to manufacture, sell, or possess an exploding golf ball in Massachusetts. This odd piece of legislation was passed to prevent serious injuries from novelty golf balls containing small explosive charges that were once popular gag gifts on the links.

A famous, albeit absurd, piece of folklore claims that Massachusetts drivers are prohibited from keeping a gorilla in the backseat of their vehicle. This likely stemmed from broad, archaic laws prohibiting the transport of dangerous wild animals in passenger compartments without proper cages.

The city of Marlborough outright banned the sale, possession, and use of Silly String. The strict ordinance was passed after large public events and parades were repeatedly ruined by massive, impossible-to-clean amounts of the sticky aerosol plastic coating the downtown area.

In Boston and across the state, it is expressly prohibited to use fluoroscopic X-ray machines to fit shoes. These machines were incredibly popular in mid-20th-century department stores before lawmakers realized that shooting raw radiation at customers' feet was a severe public health hazard.

Engaging in a duel could not only result in death, but under old Massachusetts law, it would permanently strip you of your political rights. Anyone participating in or challenging someone to a duel was legally barred from ever holding public office in the state.

Dating back to its rigid Puritan roots, Massachusetts still has a blasphemy law on the books. Whoever willfully blasphemes the holy name of God by denying, cursing, or contumeliously reproaching God can technically face jail time, though it is no longer constitutionally enforced.

To protect citizens from fraud and hucksters, Massachusetts requires anyone telling fortunes for money to be licensed by the state. Without a formal license granted by local authorities, you cannot legally charge a fee for palm reading, tarot cards, or casting spells.

In Cambridge, city ordinances make it illegal to shake your rugs or carpets out of a window onto the street. This law was intended to keep the city streets clean from excessive dust, dirt, and debris during the era of heavy tenement living before modern vacuum cleaners.

In Newton, it is generally prohibited to enjoy a picnic lunch in a graveyard. While cemeteries were once popular spots for Victorian family outings and leisurely lunches, modern ordinances consider recreational eating on burial grounds to be a nuisance and disrespectful to the deceased.

Until the law was recently modified to match modern culinary trends, it was illegal to sell or manufacture candy in Massachusetts that contained more than one percent alcohol by weight. The law was intended to prevent minors from accidentally getting intoxicated by eating liqueur-filled chocolates.

In a historically heavily regulated dairy industry, Massachusetts makes it a crime to maliciously deface, alter, or destroy a milk carton or reusable milk crate. This law was designed to protect the property of dairy farmers and prevent fraudulent tampering with agricultural goods.

Due to strict Puritanical Blue Laws, coastal whaling towns like Provincetown originally prohibited the sale of whale oil on Sundays. Sunday was reserved strictly for rest and worship, and selling lucrative whaling commodities was seen as a grave violation of the Sabbath.

It is officially illegal to tie or fasten a dog to the outside of a motor vehicle, including the roof. This law gained widespread attention and reinforcement after a famous political incident involving a dog on a car roof, underscoring modern animal cruelty standards.

In the town of Wayland, keeping a cow on your property requires special permission, and any loose cow is subject to immediate impounding. This relic from Wayland's agricultural past exists to prevent unmonitored livestock from wandering onto major modern roadways and causing accidents.

It is against the law to drive a horse-drawn sleigh on a public way unless there are at least three bells attached to the horse's harness. Since sleighs glide quietly over snow, the bells were required to audibly warn pedestrians and other drivers of the approaching vehicle.