The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1921-06-25
REAL BLUE SUNDAYS.
No kissing, No Shaving Allowed Where
Indigo Sabaths Were Really Observed.

indigo SabathS Were Really Observed.
No one shall kiss his or her chill
dren ON the Sabbath or feasting days"
No one shall personally cook meals, |
make beds, sweep house, cut hair or
shave on the Sabbath Day" NO one
shall cross a river on the Sabbath but an
authorized clergyman mo food or
lodging shall be offered to a hereto /
The present national connection re-
sulting from the reformers' attempts to
take the sun out of Sunday brings to
mind previous attempt some two CEN
turtles ago Those Connecticut blue laws
are FAR famed but they were by no
means limited to the colony noted for
its wooden nutmegs and Icbabod Cranes.
Down in that land, Virginia, where the
.Colonists consumed so much mint iulep
that to this day the mint grows out of
the graves at jamestown, the rules were
JnSt as strict In 1862 a woman was in
.dlcted for Smelling corn on Sunday In
deed, the very first general assembly in
the Old dominion passed Il law requiring
every citizen to attend church on the
Sabbath. and if freeman diSobeyed he
was compelled to pay three shilings. and
If slave he was fiogged And going
to church, mind you. meant in thosel
days going to particular kind of
church. For in 1852 the Virginia as
sembly passed a law Furnishing all dis
sentcrs from the Church of England, in
1862 passed an act banishing all who
refused TO have their children baptized
in that church. in 1T4f issued a law
making life uncomfortable for preSby-
terians, and in l146 created further
statutes aimed at Moravians and Aetho
dists. Verify, those were the DAYS of
the real blue Sundays
But who has ever surpassed Yankee
IN anything-even in keeping or in break
- n, l.. -
entered into every phase of Hfe-one's
food. sleep, recreation, work, dress. Those
grave old ehurchmen of Massachusetts
and Connecticut passed stern regulations
about ones cuffs, ruffles. ribbons and
bands. There should be. for instance,
of the arms may be discovered" but, on
the other hand, no sleeve must be more
than half an ell long" 1t was a nerve
racking time for tailors and dreSsmakerS
If YOU did not go to church YOU were
simply beyond the pale" No one,
declared the old laws. shall be a free
man or have a vote unless he is converted
and member of the churches allowed in
the Dominion And. moreover. if you
failed to attend divine services. the town
Waterman saw to it that time hung heavy
on your hands. No one was allowed
to leave town on the Sabbath no one
must come to town except for church at
tendance. No work was permitted on
farm in shop, or on ship. \ boat could
not be used, except when absolutely nee
| cssary in getting people to meeting
house, Using horse, an OK. or n
wagon was unlawful if the church were
within reasonable walking distance. and
| reasonable" was in this case most e1-
panSivc word.
| Then. too. the odor of cooking food
on the Sabbath was, an abomination,
while to smoke or chew tobacco near a
meeting house on Sunday meant seat
/ in the stocks instead of a church pew !
| Indeed. this use of "SotweCd.' az tobacco
was called, was a most sinful habit on
any day. None under II years. nor
| any not previously accustomed to il shall
Itake tobacco without a physicians GER
/ tificatc No one shall use il publicly in
the street or in the fields or in the woods
except on a journey of at least 10 miles
or at dinner, Nor shall anyone take
ii III any house i'm his own town with
more than one person taking il at thg
J same time" What chance for an Amer
lean Tobacco Trust in those cruel days
5 Nor did one dare for long time t.
] make miuce pies or play any musical in
: strumcnt, except drum. trumpet OF
: q jews harp! Luckily the early New
: Engandcrs were not musically inclined
Card playing was absolutely forbidden
ng-the thought was unbCarable. Say
3 old Judge Sewall i'm his famous It'll
: was fined five bounds And as for dane
: century diary: After the Ministers o
Z this Town tBaStOnl come to the Gour
and complain against a Dancing Mastc
: who seeks to set up here and hath mix
: Dances and his time OF Hecting is Lee
Z ture Day Thursday, and tits reports
8 lac should say that by one play he coul
{ teach more Divinity than MIR. Willar
: (thH pastorl or the Old Testament
! little later Scwall joyfully records tina
: the dancing master has fed the tow
: because of debt-'several warrants on
q for him." But why expect to dance whe
the laws declared that none should ru
8 on the Sabbath or walk in his garden q
= elsewhere except reyerenuy to an
4 from meeting?"
q! For more than 100 years there was |,
s gal interference with ;he most petty PEI
8 snnal AFFAIR." Of the Colonial citizen.
. Massachusetts a woman might not II
s ceive her own male relativeS-not eve
= her brother or father-if her husban
. were away. and old Judge Sewal record
. that IN the depth of the night he wa
. turned away for such cause from a clos
. friends home. although there were tw
= ether male travellers with him. 1t ws
= also hOtly disputed in the early BoSto
n and Salem churches whether wOme
. should sing in divine services One
3 old John COtton's most famous sermon
s deals with this identical subject. and I
y expresses grave doubt i'm the matter b.
q cause the woman is more subject to q
= ror than a man. and therefore migl
q soon prove a seduccr if she become
q teacher
q Perhaps Macauley was right when |
i declared that the Puritans were oppos,
TO bear batting; not because it gave Il
n hears pain, but because it gave the Spe
/ taters pleasure. Blue Sunday cxtendt
A its influence to blue Christmas. and
late as 1851 that staunch old PuTita
Judge Sewall. cxutingly wrote in h
\ diary: Dec. %. Carts come to Tow
1 and shops open as usual. Some someho
n observe the day Blessed be CO
no authority yet to compel them to ket
A it. Thus. so opposed to pleasure we
I these indigo worShippers that so late
4 1880 Samuel Peters found the laws