posted June 30, 2004 11:58 AM         

• Theaters in Glendale, California can show horror films only on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday.

• You can't plow a cotton field with an elephant in North Carolina.

• In Lehigh, Nebraska it's against the law to sell donut holes.

• Under the law of Mississippi, there’s no such thing as a female Peeping Tom.

• Anti-modem laws restrict Internet access in the country of Burma. Illegal possession of a modem can lead to a prison term.

• Lawn darts are illegal in Canada.

• In Idaho a citizen is forbidden by law to give another citizen a box of candy that weighs more than 50 pounds.

• Every citizen of Kentucky is required by law to take a bath at least once a year.

• It is against the law to whale hunt in Oklahoma. (Think about it...)

• A Venetian law decrees that all gondolas must be painted black. The only exceptions are gondolas belonging to high public officials.

• In the state of Queensland, Australia, it is still constitutional law that all pubs (hotel/bar) must have a railing outside for patrons to tie up their horse.

• According to law, no store is allowed to sell a toothbrush on the Sabbath in Providence, Rhode Island. Yet these same stores are allowed to sell toothpaste and mouthwash on Sundays.

• Before the enactment of the 1978 law that made it mandatory for dog owners in New York City to clean up after their pets, approximately 40 million pounds of dog excrement were deposited on the streets every year.

• Chewing gum is outlawed in Singapore because it is a means of "tainting an environment free of dirt."

• The handkerchief had been used by the Romans, who ordinarily wore two handkerchiefs: one on the left wrist and one tucked in at the waist or around the neck. In the fifteenth century, the handkerchief was for a time allowed only to the nobility; special laws were made to enforce this. The classical heritage was rediscovered during the Renaissance.

• For hundreds of years, the Chinese zealously guarded the secret of sericulture; imperial law decreed death by torture to those who disclosed how to make silk.

• An old law in Bellingham, Washington, made it illegal for a woman to take more than 3 steps backwards while dancing.

• By law, information collected in a U.S. census must remain confidential for 72 years.

• Candy made from pieces of barrel cactus was outlawed in the U.S. in 1952 to protect the species.

• A slander case in Thailand was once settled by a witness who said nothing at all. According to the memoirs of Justice Gerald Sparrow, a 20th century British barrister who served as a judge in Bangkok, the case involved two rival Chinese merchants. Pu Lin and Swee Ho. Pu Lin had stated sneeringly at a party that Swee Ho's new wife, Li Bua, was merely a decoration to show how rich her husband was. Swee Ho, he said, could no longer "please the ladies." Swee Ho sued for slander, claiming Li Bua was his wife in every sense - and he won his case, along with substantial damages, without a word of evidence being taken. Swee Ho's lawyer simply put the blushing bride in the witness box. She had decorative, gold-painted fingernails, to be sure, but she was also quite obviously pregnant.

• In Breton, Alabama, there is a law on the town's books against riding down the street in a motorboat.

• Connecticut and Rhode Island never ratified the 18th Amendment: Prohibition.

• A few years back, a Chinese soap hit it big with consumers in Asia. It was claimed in ads that users would lose weight with Seaweed Defat Scented Soap simply by washing with it. The soap was sold in violation to the Japanese Pharmaceutical Affairs Law and was banned. Reportedly, the craze for the soap was so great that Japanese tourists from China and Hong Kong brought back large quantities. The product was also in violation of customs regulations. In June and July 1999 alone, over 10,000 bars were seized.

• In most American states, a wedding ring is exempt by law from inclusion among the assets in a bankruptcy estate. This means that a wedding ring cannot be seized by creditors, no matter how much the bankrupt person owes.

• In New York State, it is still illegal to shoot a rabbit from a moving trolley car.

• Vermont, Alaska, Hawaii, and Maine are the four states in the U.S. that do not allow billboards.

• Wetaskiwin, Alberta from 1917: "It's against the law to tie a male horse next to a female horse on Main Street."

• Women were banned by royal decree from using hotel swimming pools in Jidda, Saudi Arabia, in 1979.

• In Riverside, California, there is an old law on the city's books which makes it illegal to kiss unless both people wipe their lips with rose water.

• In Saudi Arabia, a woman reportedly may divorce her husband if he does not keep her supplied with coffee.
  

I mean.. what???
I love 'em though!!

posted June 30, 2004 12:09 PM         

that'd be a real toss-up between Riverside and Saudi Arabia - rose water kisses or guaranteed coffee service!