The ice cream law is actually part of several different
states’ legal code, giving the impression that it arose from a common problem,
not a single lawmaker’s personal vendetta. While each state has its own
variation, each one states that it is illegal to carry an ice cream cone in one’s
pocket. Some states restrict the prohibition to Sunday, while some specifically
refer to back pockets. You probably have two questions: Why would anyone put an
ice cream cone in their pocket, and why would the government not want them to
do so?
As with most hard-to-explain laws, the ice cream law has its
origins in a different social and economic climate. It seems that horse thieves
had come up with an ingenious way to get out of trouble if someone caught them
making off with a horse: They simply said that the horse was following them home,
and they had no control over the situation. Why was the horse following them
home? More often than not, it was because of a sweet, delicious odor coming
from the thief’s back pocket…ice cream!
Who knows why thieves focused on ice cream as the perfect
horse-tempting food? In any case, don’t try it today, or you could find a judge
blowing the dust off the ice cream law and convicting you. You would certainly
make it onto the evening news!
We have a plethora of great ice cream activity ideas on our website,
and none of them involve breaking laws, obscure or otherwise (at least as far
as we know…). Have fun with your ice cream, let your creativity go wild, and
make sure there aren’t any horses nearby. You wouldn’t want a passing police
officer to mistake your birthday party for a horse-stealing operation.
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