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Photo by Tom Wilson. .

15 Strangest Laws that you will find in Alabama

Law can be defined as a system of rules which a particular country or community recognizes as regulating the actions of its members. The laws are enforced by the imposition of penalties. According to the sociological school of thought, laws are meant to reflect the society. Alabama is a very old state. It was the twenty second state to be admitted to United States in 1819. These strange laws were enacted to serve the people who existed in the 1900s.

This is the reason why the laws are very strange to us 200 years later. It is an uphill task to even begin to fathom these laws. Most of these laws are not enforced today. Let’s have a look at the 15 strangest laws that you will in Alabama.

1. It is illegal to wear a fake moustache to church that invokes laughter

Photo by Alan Hardman. .

The Alabama lawmakers were trying to increase piety and respect for places of worship. One of the ways they saw suitable to achieve this goal was to outlaw wearing of fake moustaches in church with the intent to make people laugh. It could be that several instances of such nature had occurred previously.

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2. It is illegal to dress up as a priest on Halloween

Photo by Beth Teutschmann. .

At the core of this law the respect for priesthood. As it is the legislators were very inclined towards upholding religion. The penalty for this was spending a year in jail and a fine of 500 dollars. This law is no longer enforced today. That’s why you will find people dressed up as the pope during Halloween.

3. It is illegal for a man to take away a woman’s virginity

Regardless of a woman’s age or marital status, it is very illegal for a man to take away a woman’s virginity. This is very wild since the law does not have any regard to the fact the woman and the man are married. The penalty for this is spending 5 years in jail and a fine of 500 dollars. The act is a misdemeanor.

4. It is illegal to put ice-cream cone in your back pocket

Photo by Elza Kurbanova. .

This law was quite relevant in the early days of Alabama when everyone rode horses. Most thieves would put ice cream cones with ice-cream in their back pockets to lure away horses so that they can steal them. To this day this law is in the book. It is still very illegal to walk around with ice cream in your back pocket.

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5. Children from incestuous relationships are considered legitimate

Photo by Senjuti Kundu. .

Back in the days, inbreeding was really common. People married they own relatives for instance cousins, sisters. This was quite common in the royal families. The reasoning behind these deeds was that the royal family wanted to retain royal blood. It was considered uncouth to marry from outside royalty. To normalize this, it was enacted in the law that children from incestuous relationships were considered to be legitimate.

6. Bear wrestling was prohibited in Alabama

Photo by Becca. .

If you are caught wrestling a bear in Alabama, that is a class B felony. Once upon a time, bear wrestling was a pastime for the people of Alabama. This law was enacted to protect these animals from cruel treatment. This law was repealed and is no longer enforced in Alabama.

7. You cannot play dominoes on Sunday

Photo by Mick Haupt..

In an effort to get more Alabama residents to go to church back in the early days, playing dominoes on Sunday was outlawed. It was believed and it was common that 90% of individuals went to church on Sunday. Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces. It is a very common board game. This law is however no longer enforced.

8. It is illegal to be blindfolded while driving

Photo by Why Kei. .

As it were, the legislators foresaw or experienced instances where people drove while blindfolded. This would be a very dangerous scenario not only for the person driving but also for all road users. In bid to keep all road users such as pedestrians safe, it was made illegal to drive while blindfolded.

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9. It is illegal to throw salt on railroad tracks

Photo by Irina Iriser..

Early on in the days, Alabama was an open range state. This means that animals roamed everywhere. Throwing salt on railway tracks would therefore attract such animals onto the track. The net effect of this is that the animals would be hit by the train and get killed in the process.

10. It is illegal to sell peanuts after sundown on Wednesday in Lee County

Photo by Isai Dzib.

This was a law made in the early days of Alabama to get more people involved in church activities. The people of Alabama were therefore forced to shut down their peanut businesses every Wednesday evening. This would make them free and available to attend church.

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11. Within Mobile city in Alabama it is illegal to howl at women

Photo by Cayetano Gil. .

A big win for the women and a loud shout out to the feminist movements. Mobile City is the birth place of Mardi Gras. This was festival of the Carnival celebration. The festival lasted for up to two weeks. Men and women took to the streets to celebrate. The traditional colors of Mardi Gras are purple, green and gold. It is commonly held in New Orleans.

12. It is illegal to throw confetti or spray silly string in Alabama

Photo by Hugo Ruiz..

During the Mardi Gras festival, all the things that are part of celebrations were done. This included throwing confetti and silly string. While this can be viewed as good, the celebrations lasted for as long as two weeks. This left the city to dirty and the cleaning personnel could not keep up with all the celebratory materials. Hence this law to maintain the city in good hygienic conditions. It is however no longer enforced.

13. It is illegal to throw or spit fruit peeling on the ground

Photo by Kaitlyn Chow. .

Any person who was found to have thrown a fruit peeling on the ground could be arrested and fined a charge of up to 500 dollars. The reasoning behind this law was to keep the city clean. Such kind of laws are very common. Legislators are trying to reduce the mischief of unnecessary dirt in the city. Today you may find laws that prohibiting littering and bodies are put in place to enforce such laws.

14. Women are not allowed to wear lewd clothes in public in Alabama

Photo by Lera Yudina. .

This law is still enforced today to some extent. This happens when a perpetrator has too much nudity showing. These are the kind of laws that are enforced with the aim of maintaining the morality of a people. They restrict and regulate the freedom of citizens not because such actions may cause harm to others, but because it is against public policy and morality.

15. It is illegal to open an umbrella in downtown

Photo by Ricardo Resende..

While these sounds ridiculous today, in the olden days, there were no cars. People in Alabama mostly used horses as the main means of transport. Opening umbrellas when it rained in Alabama would scare the horses away. This would cause a very huge mess and maze of confusion in the city. To restore some semblance of order therefore, this law that outlawed opening an umbrella in downtown. This law is no longer enforced.