History Book: The legacy of Blue Laws lingers more than 200 years after first enacted

Aug. 26—In June 1920, Pottsville City Council voted to ban sporting events and commercial activity on Sundays in the city.

"City council adopted a resolution that the mayor enforce the laws prohibiting baseball and pigeon and crap shooting on the first day of the week, and also Sunday selling in the stores," the Pottsville Republican reported on June 9, 1920.

The action was based on a letter from the Pottsville Ministerial Association, a group of the city's churches.

Several ministers presented city council with a petition citing complaints from residents who lived near Dolan's Park in the city.

They complained of "noise and the dust and clamor of automobiles on the day set aside for the worship of God and a day of rest."

The practice had become a nuisance that should be abated by the power of the law, the petition stated.

Dolan's Park, originally the site of O'Connor's Farm, was on the south side of West Market Street from 16th to 19th streets, according to a history of baseball in Schuylkill County.

From the late 1800s to 1932, when it was sold, the open space was the site of baseball and football games and circuses that visited the city. In last week's column, I noted that Buffalo Bill brought his Wild West Show to the site in 1899.

At any rate, Councilman Dengler, the only one of the five city councilmen to vote against the resolution, argued that banning sports would basically open a Pandora's box that residents might not be happy about.

He insisted that, if council was to ban sports, it must also ban the full measure of activities allowed by law.

The Blue Laws, he noted, gave the mayor the power to forbid Sunday sales of goods, cigars, confectionery and even stop the street cars from running.

America was still a colony when Blue Laws were first enacted around 1779, during the American Revolution. Most states had them in one form or another.

In Pennsylvania, organized sports competition was illegal on Sundays until 1931, when the Philadelphia Athletics challenged it. The law was changed to allow only baseball to be played on Sundays.

In 1933, when he was purchasing the Philadelphia Eagles' franchise, Bert Bell convinced Gov. Gifford Pinchot to back a change in Blue Laws that would allow football to be played on Sundays.

Subsequently, in April 1933, the state legislature adopted a bill that paved the way for the Eagles to play on Sundays.

That same bill directed local communities to hold referendums on whether to change Blue Laws in their municipality.

In a landmark decision in 1961, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Pennsylvania's Blue Laws in Braunfeld v. Brown.

Braunfeld, a Jewish clothier in Philadelphia, argued that he needed to be open on Sunday because his religion prohibited him from working on Saturday, the Sabbath. The prohibition of Sunday sales violated his First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion, he argued.

In a 6-3 decision, the court ruled that Philadelphia's ban did not violate the free exercise of religion.

Although Pennsylvnia's Liquor Control Board was enacted in 1933, during Prohibition, the legacy of Blue Laws has impacted sales of alcohol in the state.

In 2015 — more than 200 years after Blue Laws were first enacted — some of the state's Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores were allowed to open noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays.

In 2016, restrictions on state store's hours of operation were largely eliminated. And, the legislature passed a bill allowing grocery stores, convenience stores, hotels and casinos to sell beer and wine on a take-out basis.

Even now, because of Blue Laws that remain on the books, it is illegal to sell cars and other motor vehicles in Pennsylvania on Sundays. That's why dealerships and used car lots are closed on Sunday.

Hunting is also illegal on Sundays, except for fox, crow and coyote.

In 2019, Gov. Tom Wolf signed legislation that allows hunting on three Sundays in the year — one in deer season, one in archery deer season and the third to be chosen by the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

(Staff writer Devlin can

be reached at rdevlin@republicanherald.com)