When Laws Speak: America's Strangest Town Ordinances
From the foolish to the bizarre: Unbelievable Laws in Small Town America"
"A Journey Through America's Most Bizarre Laws: From Myth to Reality"
In general, laws are created to maintain order and keep us all safe. But bureaucracy and absurdity often hinder even the best of intentions, and what results from them
Regulations are not always completely logical. For centuries, many of these laws have been dangerously outdated and rarely enforced.
But it's still good for laughter. So today we're throwing the book on the weirdest laws in a small town in America.
The court of strange history is now in session. The city of Green, New York, allegedly has a law specifically prohibiting eating peanuts while walking back, but only during concerts.
There is little evidence to put this law in any context, but if you allow us to speculate violently, someone choked on peanuts while walking on the moon at a Michael Jackson concert, and lawmakers had disobeyed him with a smooth criminal.
The laws of San Francisco, California, state that you cannot store your belongings in a garage, even if it is your own garage.
In fact, Chapter VI of the Housing Act seems to declare that neither public nor private garages can be used to store any items other than a car.
It sounds like a joke, but breaking this law can give you a fine of up to $500. Why? Best we can know, a large volume must have a lot of impact in the city next to the bay.
Beauty is only deep skin, or a deep coat, if you are a horse. But in Wilbur, Washington, horse appearances are important, because it is illegal to ride an ugly horse.
It is unclear why the law exists, and the legislation does not specify who can assess the total heat per horse. But if you violate this decree, you will face a fine of $ 300. So when it comes to ugly horses, just say neighing.
Topeka, Kansas, has rules that prohibit people in haunted homes from screaming or creating any disturbances, ensuring they are organized at all times.
Violating this law can result in a charge of disorderly conduct, a Class C misdemeanor punishable by up to one month in prison or a maximum of $500 fines.
So if a soul returns from the afterlife and terrifies you deep into your soul, your arms may flutter, but keep the noise low.
When you think of mustaches, you think of Tom Sellec, Bert Reynolds, and Salvador Dali, but not Eureka, Nevada. Why? Because it's not Sharp's city. In fact, they have a law that makes it illegal for a man with a mustache to kiss a woman.
Rumor has it that in the late 19th century someone in the city had problems with the smoke of men with mustaches and
If only the decree had been passed. We're guessing that some soft, fluffy speakers with a large old walrus cache made a lot of ladies dip and local legislators vowed never to repeat it.
Everyone hates it when people mispronounce their names, but the people of Juliet, Illinois, really hate it, so they criminalized the mistake in pronouncing the name of the city.
If you slaughter the city nickname by naming it Jolly-ette, you may be charged with a misdemeanor and hit with a $5.00 fine. And then you have to move on to Shi-Ca-Go. Wait, is this how you pronounce it?
Many communities in California have a law in books stating that they cannot mate within 500 feet of the church.
If someone catches a red-handed woman near a house of worship, the owners face a fine of up to $ 500 and six months in prison.
Cats, on the other hand, cannot be ruled by man or God. Sorry churches. Enjoy the view. Belhaven, North Carolina sought to add a service charge to residents using the city's water supply.
To this end, they began to include additional fees, detailed as $2.00 per month per stool.
This unusual wording led to confusion, and everyone thought they would have to get some sort of crazy corporate payment plan every time they needed to do their business.
Fortunately, it was just a misunderstanding, and since then they have updated the description to $2.00 per toilet. Oh, we got it. $2.00 for two.
Well done, Belhaven. Have you ever wondered what the Joker might do if he succeeds in capturing Gotham City? It may sound like Pocatello, Idaho, which in 1948 issued a city decree that makes it illegal not to smile. The story goes that society has come out of a harsh winter that is very depressed.
The Orwellian sounding law was a playful attempt to lift the morale of the city's inhabitants. And if someone breaks it, the authorities issue a tongue in the arrest of the cheek.
Some men just want to watch the smile of the world. You may have passed a desert on a horse without a name, but have you ever passed by Texarkana, Texas, on a horse without backlights? If so, you could be in trouble.
Texarkana has a law that states that horses must have taillights that work when moving through the city at night, or the driver can get a traffic citation. It's probably a safety issue, but we don't even want to think about where one installs a taillight on a horse.
This won't be a big deal unless you're a babar on Bender, but Natchez, Mississippi, has a law specifically banning drunken elephants on city streets.
According to legend, in 1810, a local man hosted a live show of elephants on his property. And to make sure that the elephants gave a noisy performance, he gave them beer. The result? Elephants are drunk on the street, and one of the most specific laws in the country.
Bumper stickers often ask us to honk if you like Aerosmith, but if it's after 9:00 p.m. and you're near a sandwich shop in Little Rock, you might want to think twice.
No one remembers why, but local regulations state that "no one may honking a horn at a vehicle anywhere cold drinks or sandwiches are served after 9:00 p.m."
Violation of the law, which is strangely not applicable to companies selling any other type
of food, it can result in a $1,000 fine, which can double each time for repeat offenders, such as a multi-layered club sandwich.
In the mid-nineties of the nineteenth century, a former Grand Haven resident visited the city and wrote a letter to the local newspaper, bemoaning "round skirts and other garbage littered on the streets."
The city issued a decree prohibiting such chaos in the round skirt. The penalty for breaking it was $5.00, which was adjusted for inflation, around $130 today.
The other garbage mentioned in the letter was apparently good. Imagine a paradise where it was literally illegal for scary men to shout on the sidewalk.
Well in New York City, heaven on earth, all public flirting by men is technically illegal. The law states that a man cannot look at a woman on the streets of the city in this way.
Some believe that the decree, which does not apply to women who look at men, dates back to a time when women were seen in this way as a euphemism to seduce sex workers.
Whatever the origin, scary men should start carrying cash, because the fine is $ 25 for popping. Many people celebrated when weeds became legal in Colorado, but not all weeds are legal.
In the town of Pueblo, for example, you can't get dandelion in your garden that's over 10 inches tall. If the dandelion is too tall, the city will hit you With a $300 fine plus a weeding fee.
Like, cruel way Phoebe, man. There's an old Disney song that recommends whistling while working, but we can't recommend it in Waterbury, Connecticut.
If you are caught whistling loudly at Waterbury, the police can license you, although the fine depends on the limits set by the City Council each fiscal year.
The decree was passed by lawmakers in order to avoid public unrest and maintain a peaceful atmosphere, which is just political talk because we really hate whistling.
In Gallesburg, Illinois, they like to ride a bike just fine. Not just luxury bike rides Those elites in which big cities do it.
That's right, Galesburg has a law that prohibits any luxury bike ride. What does Galesburg consider fictional? Any act involves taking both hands off the handlebar or both feet off the pedals.
Children 16 and younger will receive a $1.00 fine for breaking this law, while older offenders face $30 to $100. The Second Amendment gives Americans the right to carry guns, but they can still wear long sleeves, if they choose.
See what we did there? In 2013, the small town of Nokla, Colorado, took that right to a whole other level, becoming the first city in the state to require the armament of all citizens.
However, the decree is largely symbolic. You will not face indiscriminate weapon searches or incur any penalties for not filling the heat.
Charleston, South Carolina, is a great place to own a home, except for the fact that the city's fire department has every right to blow it up. Well, that sounds scary. But as usual, context is important.
If your house is already on fire and the fire department decides that the only way to control the fire is to blow it up with TNT, then only they will bombard away.
Professional firefighters call out for the Wile E. Coyote maneuver – or they should if they haven't already. Everyone loves Silly String for five minutes on Halloween.
After that, it's annoying and messy. Southington, Connecticut, even went so far as to legally ban the spraying of Silly String in public.
Reported in the mid-nineties, Silly String was wreaking havoc on a large scale, staining clothes, vandalizing cars, and almost causing a motorcycle accident between two police officers.
The penalty for violating this law is a fine of $99. Nothing ridiculous about it. We've all experienced this. You put your money in the vending machine, do not distribute your item, so you start slapping it, trying to pull something loose.
But while this violence may be reasonable, it is against the law in Derby, Kansas. The city has issued a decree stating that you cannot legally hit a vending machine for any reason.
If you do, you may receive a first-degree misdemeanor, which means up to a year in prison and up to $2,500 in fines.
Was that Snickers really worth it? If you live in Canton, Ohio, and own a pet tiger, panda bear, or other stranger who is not indigenous to the state, the law states that you need to monitor it at all times, and if your pet escapes, you only have one hour to alert the police.
If you wait longer than that, you may earn a first-degree misdemeanor, punishable by a maximum of 180 days in prison and a fine of up to $1,000. Well, on second thought, this law makes a lot of sense.
So to every Tony Montana out there, be sure to restrict your tigers. So what do you think? Which of these laws is the strangest? Let us know in the comments below.