Blue laws were the first printed laws of New Haven Colony in Connecticut. They may have been given the name because they were bound in blue or printed on blue paper. Today the term blue laws refers to laws designed to enforce morality as some lawmakers understand it, such as laws prohibiting certain types of recreation on Sunday.
The early blue laws of New Haven Colony were widely publicized by Samuel Peters (1735-1826) in his colorful, but highly inaccurate, book A General History of Connecticut, first published in London in 1781. Some laws such as Peters described existed, but they were probably never strictly enforced. Other laws mentioned in the book merely reflect Peters’ vivid imagination.
Some of the most famous of the 45 laws that Peters listed are the following:
No food or lodging shall be afforded to a Quaker, Adamite, or other Heretic.
No Priest shall abide in this Dominion: he shall be banished, and suffer death on his return.
No one shall travel, cook victuals, make beds, sweep house, cut hair, or shave, on the Sabbath day.
Whoever brings cards or dice into this Dominion shall pay a fine of 5 pounds.
No one shall read Common-Prayer, keep Christmas or Saints-days, make minced pies, dance, play cards, or play on any instrument of music, except the drum, trumpet, and jewsharp.
Every male shall have his hair cut round according to a cap.
