I remember when George Jenkins' family still owned Publix they were not open on Sundays. Also, for many areas in central Florida alcohol was either not sold on Sundays or not sold until after 10 am. I just saw a news headline last week that Lakeland was going to start allowing alcohol sales before 10 am on Sunday ! LOL

Donna

Donna, being in your area I remember Publix being closed on Sunday and I did read about Lakeland's new alcohol sales.

The old way was fine with me.

I remember up until fairly recently you couldn't buy alcohol before 10 am any day of the week. At least not at Publix. :)

Donna

Most people didn't work on Sunday. Though my Mom sometimes did, as she
was a nurse. It was a day for going to church, having meals and visiting
with family and taking Sunday drives.

That was a way of life through the 60s.

I don't remember when the abolishment of the blue laws started changing retail sales. The 80s? It wasn't until 2007 that alcohol could be sold here on Sundays.

Here's some background on Blue Laws.

The blue laws are still in effect in many European countries, but the UK is pretty much fully like the US. I recall (five years ago) in Switzerland being told not to do yard work on Sundays and having to hunt down the only open convenience store (in the train station) for something. It probably is one of the more restrictive blue laws still in effect. I'd never really experienced that before. I do know a couple of chains like RC Willey and Hobby Lobby are closed on Sundays, for faith-based reasons.

When we were kids (forty years ago) my Dad wouldn't allow us to play at other kid's houses on Sunday. We used to get so irritated. We just wanted to play in the yard.

The SC town I lived in had very restrictive blue laws that were finally changed in 2011. No shopping before 1:30pm and no liquor or beer sales at all. Restaurants were allowed to be open. Because you had to have somewhere to go after church!

The change was the result of increased tourism. Once county hotel tax revenues go over a certain amount the PTB decreed that the counties could cater to the heathen tourists :)

Grew up in suburban Chicago and I'd never heard of Blue Laws until I went to college in MO in the early 70's. I don't remember any specific prohibitions there but most, not all, retail stores were closed. Of course at that age I wouldn't have had a clue about people doing or not doing yard work or hanging laundry - that seems kinda over the top to me.

Philadelphia is a Quaker city so we had Blue Laws forever. Nothing was open on a Sunday but churches and hospitals. Bakeries may have been open since stopping for pastries after church was common. I am sure my parents did work around the house and yard, though. I also remember that is was more or less expected that you would dress nicely and go visit the relatives on Sunday. I remember doing that when my older son was young. We still have state controlled liquor stores and many are closed on Sundays. So dumb.

I went to college in upstate NY in the late 60s early 70s. There was a chain store called Jamesway that opened on Sunday despite blue laws. I think they were cited and fought it, leading to a court ruling that blue laws were unconstitutional.

In NY, beer and alcohol are not allowed to be sold before noon on Sundays. Paramus NJ is a major, major shopping area in the NY tri-state area which still has blue laws. No retail establishment is allowed to be open on Sundays. Big PITA imho.

I remember arriving in Salt Lake City late Sunday afternoon in 1979. We were starving and asked the hotel manager where we could get something to eat. She laughed & said everything was closed. After seeing the look on our faces, she went in the back and came out with two grilled cheese sandwiches made on a hot plate. Never forgot that!

At least until the late 1970s, the butcher's union in Chicago would not allow the sale of meat - even that which had been pre-cut - after about 6 PM every day. The butcher would cover the refrigerated meat cases and it could not be sold once the butcher went home.

We still have a southern Chicago burb South Holland that still abides by Blue laws.

I don't have any objection w/a business deciding to close on Sunday, but resent gov't telling they must.

Still frothing that you can't buy a car on Sun in IL--it wasn't due to 'Blue Laws' it was because some dealers didn't want competition open on Sun it they decided not to be open - and lobbied the gutless state legislature to impose mandatory closing.

Gov't overreach at its worst.!

graywings123

At
least until the late 1970s, the butcher's union in Chicago would not
allow the sale of meat - even that which had been pre-cut - after about 6
PM every day. The butcher would cover the refrigerated meat cases and
it could not be sold once the butcher went home.

Remember that as well ....it was asinine!

When things began to change it happened very fast. My sister, only 8 yrs. younger than I am, doesn't remember a time when stores weren't open Sundays and doesn't recall a time when people weren't supposed to put on work clothes and toil away outside the same as any other day.

I guess we have to just roll with social changes. But those days came to mind from the discussion of people bolting from the Thanksgiving meal to go shopping. Back in the '60's that would truly have been beyond belief.

I remember the liquor sales on Sunday were only after 12 pm, not 10 am. prior to that, you couldn't buy liquor ANYWHERE on Sunday, IIRC. Did it vary by FL county or was it a statewide thing? My cousin from WI could not get over that prohibition & the fact that you couldn't buy beer/wine in supermarkets either.

Not Just Paramas, NJ - Bergen County NJ still follows blue laws. I think it is essentials only so food stores are open.

article on blue laws in Bergen

I hate going to that area on Saturday. the traffic is bad ALL day as opposed to just rush hour like during the week.

I grew up in the midwest and we definitely had blue laws. Gas stations, restaurants, bakeries were open (and I assume some pharmacies although in our little town NOW there are no pharmacies open on Sunday) and that was about it. Then in the late 60s, blue laws were partially repealed and places were open but only "necessities" could be sold. The stores had to label non-essentials and that they were not for sale. Then everything became wide open a few years later. For it was silly to be open and not sell something. The interesting thing about essential/non essential is that some of the essential were downright silly!

We still have blue laws in Texas, no alcohol sales before noon on Sunday, used to be no non-food items (except diapers and a few other necessities) also on Sundays but I don't generally shop Sunday mornings anymore so not sure if they've relaxed that but auto dealerships can only be opened either Sat. or Sun. but not both. They tried to fight that maybe a decade ago and lost, most if not all of it seems ridiculous but onward it goes. I do recall getting a tongue lashing from my Grandmother in the late 70's for washing a load of clothes on a Sunday, that was just *not done*, or any other form of labor.

Can't buy a car in Iowa on Sunday. Was it when WalMart infiltrated states outside of Arkansas that all the stores started being open every day? I do know in the late '60s they were closed and maybe into 1970s. I didn't shop on Sunday so I don't remember the change.

You all are bringing back memories of things I had forgotten. I remember when stores that were open had certain things they were not allowed to sell on Sundays. We still can't buy liquor of any kind in a grocery store. In fact when I go elsewhere and see liquor for sale in the grocery store, I am taken aback. we have stupid State Stores. I hate them. One town on the New Jersey shore remains dry. Actually, it's kind of nice because many of the bars in other shore towns can really get roaring.

graywings I forgot all about that but remember now that you brought it up! That's not Blue Laws but the strength of unions in Chicago - I believe butchers are all still union there,, aren't they? It's a double edged sword for sure - union members get that living wage (among other benefits) that is denied so many but it significantly adds to the cost of doing business. Remember all the hubbub about conventions leaving Chicago due to the costs of dealing with McCormick Place and all the unions involved? But I guess that's a different discussion!

That was me who mentioned about people leaving after T-Day dinner to shop. Only a couple of the younger ones but, still, those are the ones most of us see the least. Ha! Maybe it was just an excuse to ditch us old crones and codgers.

I loved stores being closed on Sundays. But, then again, I hate shopping with a passion so it wouldn't impact me much. I live on the WA state coast and I think it was around 1970, give or take a year or two, when stores started opening on Sunday for limited hours. I think just grocery stores for quite a few years. We got our first local mall in the late 70's or early 80's and I think that was when retail shops started being open on Sundays. Although, prior to that, in the beach communities some shops that cater to tourists were also open for short hours on Sunday. Hard to remember for sure since I don't shop, lol.

Before a HD came to our area, the only place to get any kind of hardware or basic items for household repairs was a local grocery store with an aisle of limited selections of plumbing, wiring and other basics. If you had an emergency, you hoped they had what you needed in stock. Later, our locally-owned Ace opened for just a few hours on Sunday. I remember something happening early in our marriage where DH had to repair something. Must have been a plumbing emergency, I think. And the store didn't have what he needed so either my dad, his dad or his brother happened to have just the right part, thank goodness. In cases like that, it is nice that the stores are open on Sundays.

Our area never had any activity restrictions on Sundays that I recall. Kids played all around the different neighborhoods, we often went to the beach or on hikes. I just like the fact that people tended to work hard on household tasks on Saturdays so Sunday was a day of family time, visiting, play and other relaxations. I think our society needs a bit more of that, doesn't it?

It's only been the last couple of years that you could buy liquor in grocery stores here when we foolishly, imho, voted to close the state run liquor stores that closed at 8pm on Saturday nights. You could always buy beer and wine in the grocery stores. At least since I've been old enough to notice anyway. I figure if you haven't figured out on Saturday that you need booze for Sunday....oh, well. I enjoy a drink now and then. I'm not anti-alcohol by any means. But it seems cheap and seedy to me having all that hard liquor in the grocery stores. Why? I dunno.

What's funny and shows how much things have changed, now one of the old state-run liquor store locations is now a recreational pot store! I think my folks would have had conniptions if they were still with us, lol.

Do you remember this character from SNL whose catchphrase was, "And we liked it!" ? That's what these threads always remind me of. Granted, I'm in the camp of this little old man with many of my attitudes about things in the past being better. But it still makes me chuckle.

"AND WE LIKED IT!"

Chijim, I have been to South Holland to teach a workshop. I remember reading that the blue laws were hurting them economically for restaurants and hotels. National chains do not want to locate there.

I think people should be able to buy alcohol on Sundays any time. People do go to tailgates and watch sports. It just seems like an antiquated law.

No, I do not want to go back in time when things were "simpler." Reminds me too much of the "take my country back" folks.

My co-worker is an evangelical Christian and operates his side lawn business on Sundays. He goes to an early service around 7 or 8 a.m. and then he mows away.

Also, for many areas in central Florida alcohol was either not sold on Sundays or not sold until after 10 am

Surprisingly enough it was later than that in some parts of S FL. I remember going through the checkout line at Publix in Dania (Ft Lauderdale, basically, for those who don't know it) at about 11:30 on a Sun morning and the checker just grabbed the bottle of wine and put it under the counter. She looked at my amazed face and told me "not before noon", and this would have been 1992 or later.

writersblock

Also, for many areas in central Florida alcohol was either not sold on Sundays or not sold until after 10 am

Surprisingly enough it was later than that in some parts of S FL. I
remember going through the checkout line at Publix in Dania (Ft
Lauderdale, basically, for those who don't know it) at about 11:30 on a
Sun morning and the checker just grabbed the bottle of wine and put it
under the counter. She looked at my amazed face and told me "not before
noon", and this would have been 1992 or later.

-_______________________________________________________________________

I remember encountering same in a Meijer store in IN about a dozen yrs ago, but you couldn't buy any alcohol on Sunday.

This too from IN:

No sales on Christmas Day (IC 7.1-5-10-1). Minors, including babies, are not allowed to enter a liquor store.

We live in NW Florida.. No alcohol on Sundays in some places. It may actually be by town, though, not county. I know the town we used to live in just voted to allow alcohol sales after 10 am. Hubby is from a county in Texas that was dry up until a few years ago. I'm from up North (Wisconsin) where there are bars on every corner, open on Christmas, and it's socially acceptable.. I think it's sad that there's any demand for it.

We never had that ... in a farming/ranching community, cows can't wait. People drove in to church on Sunday, then went shopping while they were there. Stores opened some short hours.

I remember when Virginia STARTED blue laws ... the campaign had sappy ads about poor timmy, wandering alone because his dad had to work on Sunday and couldn't play catch. Well, after the blue laws went in, Timmy was STILL wandering around alone because Dad was on the couch watching football.

It was legal to buy fishing tackle, but NOT disposable diapers! And other wierdnesses. As a med tech who worked every other weekend, I was less than happy that I had to figure out what was for sale when and shop accordingly. We were open 24/7/365 for others.

In my town, there are no alcohol sales on Sunday. My FIL was surprised that hard liquor was available in our grocery stores because it apparently is not that way where he lives in Texas. I like that it is available in the grocery stores so that if I need some Frangelico or Amaretto, I can grab it as I would not be inclined to go into most liquor stores, although now I am most likely to get them at Total Wine as they have the best price.

Hillsborough County FL, (Tampa area) changed the time for sales of beer and wine on Sundays to an earlier time so those going to NFL games would not be inconvenienced by having to buy their provisions for tailgating the day before. i think surrounding counties soon followed.

Can't buy a car in NJ on Sunday.

No car sales in PA on Sunday. I think a few of the state controlled wine and alcohol stores are opened on Sunday. I don't think beer distributors are open on Sundays but I'm not sure, I don't buy much beer so I don't notice. You can buy beer at a select few grocery stores, if they also serve prepared foods. It seems unfair that beer distributors can't sell by the 6 pack but grocery stores and bars can. It has something to do with serving food. I think a local distributor was looking to add a hot dog cart so he could take advantage of the 6 pack sales but I don't know how that played out.

This was the beginning of " sameness" in my opinion. There will soon be nothing special. Sundays used to be different/special. The same for holidays. It is very sad to me. We are so afraid of offending someone that we have to do away with tradition.

i live in PA. I cannot comment about buying/selling alcohol. I have never bought any so I do not pay attention to it.

If you do not want to go into a store and shop on Sunday, you do not have to, whether the stores or open or not. If you do not want to go into a store and shop on Saturday, you do not have to. There is no reason for a law to tell a store which day it has to close. Some stores choose to close on Mondays.

I grew up in Washington state, which until 2012 restricted alcohol sales to state-run liquor stores. And I recall that bars were closed on Sunday. It was quite a shock to move to California and find alcohol of all sorts at the grocery stores. I think CA does restrict sales of liquor in the wee hours of the morning, as I remember an early morning shopping expedition where the guy in front of me wasn't able to buy what he wanted until some designated hour (7, I think). I don't know if that is still true.

I was an exchange student in Germany many years ago and at that time, pretty much everything was closed on Sunday. And businesses were open short hours most Saturdays. The first Saturday of the month was "Long Saturday" and the stores were open a full day. I remember being there over Christmas, and between two weekdays of closure for Christmas, 2 weekdays of closure for New Years, and a Sunday, there was an alarmingly long stretch (for someone whose fridge space allotment in the dorm consisted of a small basket) where everyone was trying to squeeze their shopping into one normal short Saturday. It was ugly. A quick Google query seems to indicate that Saturday hours are now quite a bit extended from when I was a student, though stores are still closed on Sundays.

Minnesota continues to be in the last century. No liquor on Sunday..no liquor sold ANYWHERE other than city owned liquor stores--in many smaller towns. When I first began teaching I didn't know my utilities bill check from my liquor bill check when balancing my check book!! The car dealerships are fighting HARD to keep the no car sales on Sunday laws. They know they have a good thing--not having to work that day!! Not sure I understand why a child couldn't play in the yard..and today with everyone working no way can the house/yard work not be done some on Sundays....it is a different world.

When we lived in Louisiana back in the early 80's, there was a blue law, grocery stores couldn't sell alcohol on Sunday's but there were drive thru's for mixed drinks! Little trailers were you could pull up, order a margarita and drive off. I can't recall for certain but it seems like they were open at least on Sunday afternoons.

Well this brought back a memory of how awful I thought Sunday afternoons were! Sunday morning was OK, church was OK, I liked the donuts afterwards and Sunday school with my friends. Even the comics were fun in the AM. Sunday evening was fun too, usually dinner at Baubie's and then watching "The Wonderful World of Disney" and Lassie and some of my other favorite shows. Later, "Ed Soloman" as my Baubie used to call him. But Sunday afternoon was the pits. No, you can't have a friend over and you can't go over to a friend's house either. Mom and dad are tired. So you try and watch TV, and this was before cable, so there's nothing on except old re-runs of the Three Stooges or some other awful black and white old movie. Or at least I thought they were awful at the time. And that was if you were lucky enough to have two TV's. If not, you could forget about watching TV because dad would be zonked out on the couch with the football game on, which for me as a kid held no interest. I was both too young and too old to want to take a nap! I would forlornly ride my bike around the block looking for I-don't-know-what on the abandoned streets with the tumbleweeds blowing across the horizon . . . :) If I was lucky I would run into some other kid who also had to rake the lawn or shovel the walk or mow the lawn on Sunday afternoon, and we would sneak in a little play time while we pretended to work.

I understand how this discussion turned to Blue Laws & how legislation determined whether people could shop on Sunday or buy liquor. But I am more intrigued by the way things shifted socially.

There were no laws or HOA's saying you couldn't hang your laundry or mow the lawn. It was more done out of respect for your neighbors - so they could entertain family in their yards without having a neighbor's dish towels and underwear as a backdrop. So people could sleep in on a weekend morning or enjoy a relaxing breakfast and not hear a motor roaring under an open window. Moms kept their kids occupied at their own homes so they wouldn't be interrupting a family's Sunday meal or activity by banging at the door asking, "Can I play with Johnny"? You didn't put the burden of minding your kids on another mother on Sunday. No law said you couldn't - it was done out of mutual consideration.

It's those internalized civilities that I kind of miss that have nothing to do with government or politics.

I don't over-romanticize those days. Trust me, I'm well aware of who labored creating all those big Sunday gatherings... And the division of work and expectations was far from equal. But I just know that whether stores were open and whatever bargains were to be had, very few people would have considered it appropriate to do something like bolt from the Thankgiving table to go shopping. I miss the sense of civility.

Well, when moms all had to go back to work in the 80's recession days, if they weren't working already, then stores started being open on Sundays because with everyone working, there was not as much time to do shopping errands during the week. I tried to institute the tradition of Sunday dinner with grandpa at least even once a month with SO's son and grandson and got a polite, "No Thanks." There is a certain civility in learning to get along and be considerate with all kinds of folks, and for kids to have to suck it up and entertain themselves, and taking a chill pill on Sundays. I still do, to most extent. And I hate shopping any day of the weeks, so I certainly don't want to do it as holiday entertainment. Although I have shopped over Thanksgiving weekend to some limited extent, and enjoyed it. But it was more along the lines of, "Let's walk around town, window shop and maybe pick up a bite to eat" or something like that, not an event in and of itself. Most downtown areas are vacant and abandoned, the excitement of "going downtown" or even going to the mall has been replaced by a tortuous drive from strip mall to strip mall in most places. My landlady made Christmas cookies with her grandkids on "Black Friday" and there's no doubt that everyone had way more fun. If most of your economy is based on consumption of goods, then we shouldn't be surprised that it is hallowed and celebrated by our culture. But honestly, most of the folks I know don't get that into shopping, I think it is way overblown by the media to encourage us to do more of it. Who wants to report that the Jones just went to the mall to see Santa and the train display, stopped off to get takeout pizza for dinner on the way home, and rented a movie and stayed in and ate popcorn. Or write articles about it or blah, blah blah about it. Not terribly different from when I was a kid, except that then we went "downtown" and I really miss that. IT was the place back then to see and be seen by all your friends and neighbors. Now I am just a nameless, faceless sheep milling around with all the others at the strip mall off the highway. My downtown has few stores even open, and few restaurants can stay open as well. I live in the rust belt, so to paraphrase Bruce Spingsteen "Those good ol' days are gone, and they aint never comin' back, to my hometown.."

I completely agree Amck and it's true. Having consideration for your neighbors needs was second nature, the exception was a dog that never shut up, but the family that owned it was not social and didn't care that it may bother others. Strange, 40 something years later and many still have that problem today LOL

I remember when HOA's first started. The first one I had heard of was in Mission Viejo, CA where a ton of building was going on. The reason given for the idea was that it was a way to ensure that the entire city (which was a planned community) would keep the same aesthetic and building guidelines focused mainly on the mission or spanish style, roof type and color of the exterior and that lawns were manicured and perfect looking. Then it expanded to what was showing from the windows, blinds or curtains, what was in someone's fenced backyard and it actually got kind of creepy. It's just my opinion but now, depending on where you live many HOA's can seem like mini dictatorships...which is one reason why a newer development was not very appealing to us.

I just think this bears repeating: "I miss the sense of civility."

I live in a pretty civil building - the last building I lived in was the same. Basically, I exchange pleasantries with my neighbors when I see them, but when we're behind closed doors, we don't hear them at all, which is nice -- noone is walking around in high heels on concrete floors over our head, if they're playing music we don't hear it, the only time we smell cooking from their apartments is when we're in the common hallway. It is nice that people behave that way. There's an HOA of course, but it's an urban building, and some noise might be expected, but we don't hear it. So I wouldn't say I miss the civility, I would say I'm glad I live with civil neighbors.

DLM2000, oh my, the unions and politics of doing business at the McCormick Place. Or anywhere in Chicago. Or Illinois. The history is rich with stories and tradition but the reality is killing this state, on many levels from electric supply to education. And it has nothing to do with Sunday being a day of religious observation.

Did it vary by FL county or was it a statewide thing?

Missed this before, carol. By county or even municipality. I never heard of such a thing in Miami, where I grew up, for instance, which is why I was so surprised in Dania.

I grew up on a farm, and so we did not have any neighbors, but my father would feed all of his animals on Sunday morning and pretty much never went to church - the hired hands had Sunday off, and so DF had to do the essential farm work on Sundays himself, or make me do it, which would mean two changes of clothes and one or two baths. I felt very deprived by not having neighbors and never knew that they could be a nuisance, since I wanted to have any neighbors at all. From my point of view, better to have neighbors than not, even if they annoy you at some point. I wanted to live in NYC when I was a child.