RubberBuzz || Akron Unleashed: Legal Beagle

8.01.2005

Legal Beagle

My weekend was long and full of dog hair. I've been puppy sitting three monster dogs, so Monday morning was a exciting reprieve from those poochers. I even got a little shocker this morning in The BJ. In amongst the stories of death and murder was a story that evoked a laugh. Mark Price did a piece on the old laws of Akron and its crazy to hear how people lived 100 years ago. Here are my favorites:

Do not reveal too much skin.

In long-ago days before tank tops and belly shirts, a bad fashion decision could land someone in the hoosegow. No Akron resident was allowed to make any ``indecent, immodest or immoral exhibition of his or her person'' in public. Nor could one ``cause or procure any other person so to do.''

Offenders risked six months in jail, a maximum fine of $100, or both.

Do not swap clothes with the opposite sex.

Apparently, transvestism was a big concern in our canal town. It was unlawful for ``any male person to appear in any public place, within the limits of this city, in the dress or attire of a female person, or for any female person to appear in any public place, within the limits of this city, in the dress or attire of a male person.''

Cross-dressers could be fined $20.

I guess those would make The Interbelt illegal.

Do not allow horses to copulate in public.

How would you like to be the patrolman to break this one up?

``Stud horses or jacks shall not be let to mares or exhibited in the streets, alleys or lots of the city, unless enclosed from public view,'' the city ruled.

Offenders, presumably the owners of the horses, could be fined $10, plus costs for prosecution.

That one just makes me chuckle.

The BJ :: Against the law

(joe :: Legal Beagle)

Home :: Food :: Booze
Caffeine :: Shopping :: Arts
Events Calendar