CNY VINTAGE
Throwback Thursday: 'Sunday Selling' law creates chaos in 1962
Updated Dec 21;Posted Dec 21
Christmas trees are sold at Hafner's in 1995. In 1962, after business groups asked for stricter enforcement of Sunday-selling laws, Christmas trees were illegal to purchase on Sunday, Dec. 16 in Onondaga County, but legal inside the city of Syracuse. (Carl J. Single / The Post-Standard)
By Johnathan Croyle
jcroyle@syracuse.com,
syracuse.com
As Central New Yorkers prepare for the final weekend of shopping before Christmas, it will be strange to remember a time when shopping was forbidden for most items on Sundays.
On Dec. 14, 1962, the Syracuse Chamber of Commerce and the Better Business Bureau asked Syracuse and Onondaga County police for better enforcement of so-called Sunday Selling laws.
By Johnathan Croyle
jcroyle@syracuse.com,
syracuse.com
As Central New Yorkers prepare for the final weekend of shopping before Christmas, it will be strange to remember a time when shopping was forbidden for most items on Sundays.
On Dec. 14, 1962, the Syracuse Chamber of Commerce and the Better Business Bureau asked Syracuse and Onondaga County police for better enforcement of so-called Sunday Selling laws.
"Where Is What Legal?" was the headline to this caption in the Post-Standard on Dec. 17, 1962. Christmas trees were legal to buy inside the city of Syracuse, but illegal in the rest of Onondaga County on Sunday, Dec. 16, 1962 after stricter enforcement of Sunday Selling Laws.
The laws, also called blue laws, dated back to when the Dutch controlled New York in the 17th century, said that only essential items could be sold to the public on Sundays. Food, like bread, milk and eggs, were OK to sell. But not raw meat.
Medicine, newspapers, flowers and tobacco products could be also sold. Automobile supplies like tires, gasoline and oil were also permitted. As were cemetery monuments.
A joint statement by the groups read: "It has been brought to our attention that certain retail establishments in the City of Syracuse and the surrounding towns are open on Sunday for the sale of merchandise prohibited by state law."
They worried that the principle of the law, which was to set aside a day with no labor, was being lost.
The Post-Standard editorial board agreed.
"The law was founded on the sociological premise that a stated period of rest and recreation is good for every man," said an editorial.
Sheriff Sarto Major stated the law would be strictly enforced come the next Sunday, Dec. 16.
The results were chaos.
Confusion reigned across Onondaga County as consumers scrambled to find out what could or could not be sold.
At least eight people were arrested for selling prohibited merchandise.
Christmas trees could be sold legally in Syracuse, but were prohibited elsewhere around the county.
And many stores simply refused to open, meaning people could not purchase any of the essentials.
Plainclothes detectives went to several stores looking to buy prohibited items.
The cashier and manager at Daw's Drug Store at East Genesee Street were arrested after undercover police bought a 49-cent screwdriver.
Another purchased screwdriver led to the arrest of employees at the Walgreen's at Shoppingtown Mall. The cashier and owner plead guilty and paid a $10 fine.
The switchboard at police headquarters was jammed with more than 250 phone calls from irate shoppers. Most just wanted to know what could or could not be purchased.
The phone line to Mayor William Walsh's office was so jammed with calls that the media could get a comment from him.
Christmas trees were a problem. The city of Syracuse considered them flowers, making them legal to purchase, the county disagreed.
Stewart Hancock Jr., of the Corporation Counsel, told the Post-Standard, that Christmas trees were a "permitted exception," and argued that "he was certain the framers of the statute never intended that a person should be arrested for selling Christmas trees."
Rather than risk arrest, many stores just simply remained closed that Sunday.
In North Syracuse, both of the main grocery stores did not open, leaving one angry woman to call police, yelling that she "drive clear to another village to find a loaf of bread for my children."
A North Syracuse man could not have a prescription filled after a drug store had its owner and cashier arrested.
Another, who worked as a truck driver six days a week, was furious after "driving 20 miles trying to locate a store which was selling groceries and a place to place to buy my children a Christmas tree."
One woman joked to police that she was unable to buy milk, but could "purchase a tombstone on Sunday."
A Syracusan told police "that Syracuse will become a laughing stock for trying to enforce the antiquated selling laws."
Despite the confusion, city and county officials pledged to continue enforcement, but promised to do a better job on briefing police on what could and could not be bought.
"One thing is sure," the Post-Standard noted, "city and county officials now agree Christmas trees are really flowers and their sale...will be okay next Sunday."
John Peter, president of the Central New York Food Merchants Association also promised better compliance by its members, warning, "Any member who violates the Sabbath edict will risk forfeiting his place in the association."
Most stores opened as usual on Dec. 23. Shopkeepers covered or roped off prohibited items.
Sunday-selling laws were finally declared unconstitutional by the New York Court of Appeals in 1976.
The laws, also called blue laws, dated back to when the Dutch controlled New York in the 17th century, said that only essential items could be sold to the public on Sundays. Food, like bread, milk and eggs, were OK to sell. But not raw meat.
Medicine, newspapers, flowers and tobacco products could be also sold. Automobile supplies like tires, gasoline and oil were also permitted. As were cemetery monuments.
A joint statement by the groups read: "It has been brought to our attention that certain retail establishments in the City of Syracuse and the surrounding towns are open on Sunday for the sale of merchandise prohibited by state law."
They worried that the principle of the law, which was to set aside a day with no labor, was being lost.
The Post-Standard editorial board agreed.
"The law was founded on the sociological premise that a stated period of rest and recreation is good for every man," said an editorial.
Sheriff Sarto Major stated the law would be strictly enforced come the next Sunday, Dec. 16.
The results were chaos.
Confusion reigned across Onondaga County as consumers scrambled to find out what could or could not be sold.
At least eight people were arrested for selling prohibited merchandise.
Christmas trees could be sold legally in Syracuse, but were prohibited elsewhere around the county.
And many stores simply refused to open, meaning people could not purchase any of the essentials.
Plainclothes detectives went to several stores looking to buy prohibited items.
The cashier and manager at Daw's Drug Store at East Genesee Street were arrested after undercover police bought a 49-cent screwdriver.
Another purchased screwdriver led to the arrest of employees at the Walgreen's at Shoppingtown Mall. The cashier and owner plead guilty and paid a $10 fine.
The switchboard at police headquarters was jammed with more than 250 phone calls from irate shoppers. Most just wanted to know what could or could not be purchased.
The phone line to Mayor William Walsh's office was so jammed with calls that the media could get a comment from him.
Christmas trees were a problem. The city of Syracuse considered them flowers, making them legal to purchase, the county disagreed.
Stewart Hancock Jr., of the Corporation Counsel, told the Post-Standard, that Christmas trees were a "permitted exception," and argued that "he was certain the framers of the statute never intended that a person should be arrested for selling Christmas trees."
Rather than risk arrest, many stores just simply remained closed that Sunday.
In North Syracuse, both of the main grocery stores did not open, leaving one angry woman to call police, yelling that she "drive clear to another village to find a loaf of bread for my children."
A North Syracuse man could not have a prescription filled after a drug store had its owner and cashier arrested.
Another, who worked as a truck driver six days a week, was furious after "driving 20 miles trying to locate a store which was selling groceries and a place to place to buy my children a Christmas tree."
One woman joked to police that she was unable to buy milk, but could "purchase a tombstone on Sunday."
A Syracusan told police "that Syracuse will become a laughing stock for trying to enforce the antiquated selling laws."
Despite the confusion, city and county officials pledged to continue enforcement, but promised to do a better job on briefing police on what could and could not be bought.
"One thing is sure," the Post-Standard noted, "city and county officials now agree Christmas trees are really flowers and their sale...will be okay next Sunday."
John Peter, president of the Central New York Food Merchants Association also promised better compliance by its members, warning, "Any member who violates the Sabbath edict will risk forfeiting his place in the association."
Most stores opened as usual on Dec. 23. Shopkeepers covered or roped off prohibited items.
Sunday-selling laws were finally declared unconstitutional by the New York Court of Appeals in 1976.
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