May 8, 2024 • 7 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, Winter Prosapio dives into some of the strange laws we have....and why we have them.
Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
This is Lee Habib, and this is our American Stories,
and we tell stories about everything here on the show,
and we especially love stories about our own history. And
today we have Winter Persapio, an author from Texas. Here
she is talking about the time she wrote a book
called Weird US Laws Strange, Bizarre, wacky and absurd. Heere's Winter.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Ten years ago, I took a sabbatical from working, and
I decided I really wanted to pursue writing a little
bit more seriously. So I started to look for opportunities
to write in because I like humor writing and it
comes very easily to me. And a long time ago,
I had also worked for something called Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse,
(00:56):
so I had actually worked in tort reform, talking about
how small businesses were getting killed by these little, frivolous lawsuits.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
I reached out to.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
An editor who was looking for a writer to write
about the Weird US Laws. And they're a Canadian companies,
so they find us incredibly amusing from that standpoint, and
it was a lot of fun. I got to work
with an illustrator and another writer and we took on
the book. I know a lot of the weird laws
in Texas some of which still exists, like you cannot
(01:28):
carry a pair of fence cutters in your back pocket,
and in.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
All of these things. You know, whenever you come.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Across a law like that, you're like, that is just dumb.
When you trace its history, that's where I think it's
so interesting because everything has a story, and that's what
makes it a lot of fun.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
There's the story.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Because someone used to cut the fences, and then when
the cows would get out from these areas, they were
considered anybody's and then they would take those cows, rebrand
them as their own, and to say, well, you know,
he was wandering loose, so that it was all about
stopping that kind.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Of cattle theft.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
But the law is still on the books, and you know,
it's hard enough to get a lot of pass let
alone try to deal with all the messy laws that
are in on the books. I don't think anyone in
modern times has been convicted from carrying, you know, one
of those wirecutters in their back pocket. But I don't
take any chances. I don't carry on in my back
(02:33):
pocket just in case somebody's super serious about it. There
were a lot of laws about spitting, you know, there
are days where I feel like that law should be
more followed against spitting on the sidewalk. This is back
in the day when we had to deal with a
lot of spatoons and all that kind of stuff, so
that those were laws that were pretty common back at
(02:53):
that time period.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
There were a lot of laws around the idea of
what was allowed with.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Women, you know, what women could do, what they could wear,
all those kinds of things. It all reflects back on
our long history as a country right through where work
we're all trying to adjust behavior. And that's what happened
throughout all of all of the US is that you
have all these laws that are all about, you know,
(03:25):
managing behavior that one person found incredibly annoying and one
person happened to be in a position to pass a law.
And so a lot of these laws are historical remnants.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
You know, they're like your attic.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
You know, you put something in there, you thought it
was worth saving. Then you move somehow, you don't have
time to unpack that box to see if you really
want it.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
You move, you carry it with you. You still haven't unpacked it.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
You know, it just becomes this thing that follows you
from place to place. And that's the way some of
these weird us laws are. And some of them speaks
back when people were when we were in a more
rural kind of community, right, we had chickens everywhere, We
had all kinds of different animals. So in Tennessee they
(04:12):
passed law Tennessee Code seven zero dash forward dash two eight,
which made it illegal to import skunks unless they were
headed to bona fide zoological parks and research institutions. We
have a skunk that comes to our house and eats
our gat food, and I feel like I don't need
to import any So at one time there were bunnies
(04:34):
in New York City. They it was a significant problem,
and somebody thought that it was a good idea to
shoot them from trolley cars.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Just think about that.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
You're out there, you're waiting to catch a trolley car,
and then all of a sudden, there's some rabbit hunter
around there who just spots a rabbit headed for the
tracks and they just decided to shoot it. So they
decided to make that illegal, something I think of a
law that should continue to exist maybe. And then in
Kansas they made it illegal for hunters to shoot at
(05:05):
rabbits from motor boats, and it is motor boats specifically,
so if you're in a kayak or a sailboat.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
I guess it's okay. That's the kind of law. That's
the one where, for example, that makes me think.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Somebody had a serious enough problem with people shooting rabbits
for motor boats that they felt like they needed to
come up with a law saying that that wasn't okay.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
That's when you're thinking, that's a law about one person.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
It's Ted over there, who has the ten acres and
these you know, brings his boat out and he's just
trying to pop.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Off the rabbits on shore of Roger's place.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
And then, unfortunately for Ted, Roger is a city council person.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
I think what it really says about us is that
when we.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Want to solve a problem, we want it solved forever.
You know, we Canadians are notorious for their politeness, right,
They're notorious for their tolerance. We're not notorious for our politeness.
I think that this speaks to that whole thing saying
not only am I going to tell you not to
do that, but I'm going to pass the laws you
(06:17):
never get to do it again.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
Whatever whatever that thing might be.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
It also speaks to it's illegal to have an elephant
down in downtown Tulsa. So when you think about that, well,
sure of course it should be illegal to have an
elephant trapesing around town. But it wasn't enough to just
say you can't have an elephant here. Apparently the person
who had the elephant there just said no, I can't.
(06:42):
There's the law against it. So you just get into
the slippery slope of you know, surely that's just a
public disturbance or you know, wild animals in general, non
domesticated pets can't be loosen downtown Tulsa. But no, they
have to be very specific about it.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
So what I think it.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Says about us is that we want to say not just.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
No, but heck no, you can't do that.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Thanks to Winter Persapio for giving us a little bit
of humor, shooting bunnies from a motor boat and so
much more stories about strange laws, funny laws here on
our American stories. Folks, if you love the stories we
(07:33):
tell about this great country, and especially the stories of
America's rich past, know that all of our stories about
American history, from war to innovation, culture and faith are
brought to us by the great folks at Hillsdale College,
a place where students study all the things that are
beautiful in life and all the things that are good
in life. And if you can't get to Hillsdale, Hillsdale
(07:53):
will come to you with their free and terrific online courses.
Go to Hillsdale dot edu to learn more.
This is Lee Habib, and this is our American Stories,
and we tell stories about everything here on the show,
and we especially love stories about our own history. And
today we have Winter Persapio, an author from Texas. Here
she is talking about the time she wrote a book
called Weird US Laws Strange, Bizarre, wacky and absurd. Heere's Winter.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Ten years ago, I took a sabbatical from working, and
I decided I really wanted to pursue writing a little
bit more seriously. So I started to look for opportunities
to write in because I like humor writing and it
comes very easily to me. And a long time ago,
I had also worked for something called Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse,
(00:56):
so I had actually worked in tort reform, talking about
how small businesses were getting killed by these little, frivolous lawsuits.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
I reached out to.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
An editor who was looking for a writer to write
about the Weird US Laws. And they're a Canadian companies,
so they find us incredibly amusing from that standpoint, and
it was a lot of fun. I got to work
with an illustrator and another writer and we took on
the book. I know a lot of the weird laws
in Texas some of which still exists, like you cannot
(01:28):
carry a pair of fence cutters in your back pocket,
and in.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
All of these things. You know, whenever you come.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Across a law like that, you're like, that is just dumb.
When you trace its history, that's where I think it's
so interesting because everything has a story, and that's what
makes it a lot of fun.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
There's the story.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Because someone used to cut the fences, and then when
the cows would get out from these areas, they were
considered anybody's and then they would take those cows, rebrand
them as their own, and to say, well, you know,
he was wandering loose, so that it was all about
stopping that kind.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Of cattle theft.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
But the law is still on the books, and you know,
it's hard enough to get a lot of pass let
alone try to deal with all the messy laws that
are in on the books. I don't think anyone in
modern times has been convicted from carrying, you know, one
of those wirecutters in their back pocket. But I don't
take any chances. I don't carry on in my back
(02:33):
pocket just in case somebody's super serious about it. There
were a lot of laws about spitting, you know, there
are days where I feel like that law should be
more followed against spitting on the sidewalk. This is back
in the day when we had to deal with a
lot of spatoons and all that kind of stuff, so
that those were laws that were pretty common back at
(02:53):
that time period.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
There were a lot of laws around the idea of
what was allowed with.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Women, you know, what women could do, what they could wear,
all those kinds of things. It all reflects back on
our long history as a country right through where work
we're all trying to adjust behavior. And that's what happened
throughout all of all of the US is that you
have all these laws that are all about, you know,
(03:25):
managing behavior that one person found incredibly annoying and one
person happened to be in a position to pass a law.
And so a lot of these laws are historical remnants.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
You know, they're like your attic.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
You know, you put something in there, you thought it
was worth saving. Then you move somehow, you don't have
time to unpack that box to see if you really
want it.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
You move, you carry it with you. You still haven't unpacked it.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
You know, it just becomes this thing that follows you
from place to place. And that's the way some of
these weird us laws are. And some of them speaks
back when people were when we were in a more
rural kind of community, right, we had chickens everywhere, We
had all kinds of different animals. So in Tennessee they
(04:12):
passed law Tennessee Code seven zero dash forward dash two eight,
which made it illegal to import skunks unless they were
headed to bona fide zoological parks and research institutions. We
have a skunk that comes to our house and eats
our gat food, and I feel like I don't need
to import any So at one time there were bunnies
(04:34):
in New York City. They it was a significant problem,
and somebody thought that it was a good idea to
shoot them from trolley cars.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Just think about that.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
You're out there, you're waiting to catch a trolley car,
and then all of a sudden, there's some rabbit hunter
around there who just spots a rabbit headed for the
tracks and they just decided to shoot it. So they
decided to make that illegal, something I think of a
law that should continue to exist maybe. And then in
Kansas they made it illegal for hunters to shoot at
(05:05):
rabbits from motor boats, and it is motor boats specifically,
so if you're in a kayak or a sailboat.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
I guess it's okay. That's the kind of law. That's
the one where, for example, that makes me think.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Somebody had a serious enough problem with people shooting rabbits
for motor boats that they felt like they needed to
come up with a law saying that that wasn't okay.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
That's when you're thinking, that's a law about one person.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
It's Ted over there, who has the ten acres and
these you know, brings his boat out and he's just
trying to pop.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Off the rabbits on shore of Roger's place.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
And then, unfortunately for Ted, Roger is a city council person.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
I think what it really says about us is that
when we.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Want to solve a problem, we want it solved forever.
You know, we Canadians are notorious for their politeness, right,
They're notorious for their tolerance. We're not notorious for our politeness.
I think that this speaks to that whole thing saying
not only am I going to tell you not to
do that, but I'm going to pass the laws you
(06:17):
never get to do it again.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
Whatever whatever that thing might be.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
It also speaks to it's illegal to have an elephant
down in downtown Tulsa. So when you think about that, well,
sure of course it should be illegal to have an
elephant trapesing around town. But it wasn't enough to just
say you can't have an elephant here. Apparently the person
who had the elephant there just said no, I can't.
(06:42):
There's the law against it. So you just get into
the slippery slope of you know, surely that's just a
public disturbance or you know, wild animals in general, non
domesticated pets can't be loosen downtown Tulsa. But no, they
have to be very specific about it.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
So what I think it.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Says about us is that we want to say not just.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
No, but heck no, you can't do that.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Thanks to Winter Persapio for giving us a little bit
of humor, shooting bunnies from a motor boat and so
much more stories about strange laws, funny laws here on
our American stories. Folks, if you love the stories we
(07:33):
tell about this great country, and especially the stories of
America's rich past, know that all of our stories about
American history, from war to innovation, culture and faith are
brought to us by the great folks at Hillsdale College,
a place where students study all the things that are
beautiful in life and all the things that are good
in life. And if you can't get to Hillsdale, Hillsdale
(07:53):
will come to you with their free and terrific online courses.
Go to Hillsdale dot edu to learn more.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Nikki Glaser Podcast
Every week comedian and infamous roaster Nikki Glaser provides a fun, fast-paced, and brutally honest look into current pop-culture and her own personal life.