Edit post

Edit your reply below.

Post Body
Enter your post below.
[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by drephpe Great description and tips, MC, but let's tell her why the window slams shut at Coolidge (good for a laugh unless you happened to be there at the time)... Back in the early days of Amtrak (early 1970s) they thought they could overturn the local blue laws by claiming (1) the train was not a fixed locale in KS, (2) was in interstate commerce (which my lawyer friends tell me should have worked), and thus was not subject to state regulation, and (3) they were federal, so buzz off. And they opened the bar. This worked great until the KS revenooers bought tickets, got on board and busted the Super's train crew--ALL OF THEM--and left the train and passengers sitting out on the main line in the middle of nowhere out by Dodge City. Amtrak chickened out (no pun intended, steel plumage) and thus the window slams shut. By the way, lest one think they discriminated against trains, they also tried it with airlines, buying tickets for the agents on thru flights and trying to cite the crews for serving drinks in KS airspace. This sort of needled airline management who, like good corporate citizens everywhere, had an investment in most of the reelection campaigns, and a compromise was very quickly reached--no booze in KS airspace only if the plane was going to land or take off at a KS airport. The only relevant airport affected was Wichita. If we didn't have state legislators and regulators, we'd have to invent them. Cheers! (but not east of Coolidge...) [/quote] This is in reference to the description to “Blue Law.” Historically ‘blue laws’ have been associated with state laws prohibiting the sale of merchandise on “Sunday.” This would also apply to alcoholic beverages not being sold only on Sunday. In the late 1950’s or early 1960’s Kansas did away with ‘blue laws’ and allowed Sunday sales of merchandise. For many years state of Missouri did not allow Sunday sale of merchandise and thus on Sunday Missourians cross the Kansas state line and packed the malls on the Kansas side. Alcohol beverages were still prohibited from sale. Just this year there have been challenges to Sunday sales of alcohol beverages, beer and liquor. Kansas was a prohibition state until 1949 when beer was allowed to be purchased. In Kansas during the 1970’s and before, ‘blue laws’ were associated with prohibiting the sale of merchandise on Sunday. Kansas had a law called “liquor-by-the-drink.” It was not a ‘blue law.’ Liquor-by-the-drink referred to the way hard liquor was to be served in clubs. If someone wanted to socialize by having a drink at a bar or club they had to belong to the club. On top of that they had to bring their own bottle (BYOB). If a traveler wanted to drink liquor at a bar club in the hotel they had to show their room key in order to get a drink. Now, why did state of Kansas all of sudden decide to stop trains for being an open saloon? Vern Miller (Democrat) was the Kansas Attorney General and he was out to enforce the letter of the law that previous attorney general’s had let go by. Miller, previous to becoming attorney general in Kansas was Sedgwick County Sheriff which included the City of Wichita. He got his law degree while he was sheriff. Vern Miller became the brunt of jokes around the United States and in Kansas. Miller got his 15 minutes of fame and then some. He later ran for governor but was unsuccessful. The anti-liquor-by-the-drink people or United Dries applauded Miller. Sometime in the 1980’s liquor-by-the-drink was repealed by the voters. The counties voting in the majority for the measure could have liquor-by-the-drink, (don’t have to take your bottle anymore or belong to a club) in their county. In counties where the measure failed liquor-by-the-drink law was to remain in effect. An interesting aspect to the repeal of the law, all most all the counties along the interstate highways passed the law. So, ‘blue laws’ are not related to liquor consumption enforcement but to prohibiting general merchandise being sold on Sundays. To read more on Sunday Blue Laws read here as the Christian Science Monitor discusses “In The Battle For Sunday, The ‘Blue Laws’ Are Failing”: http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1205/p01s02-usju.html LRS…..
Tags (Optional)
Tags are keywords that get attached to your post. They are used to categorize your submission and make it easier to search for. To add tags to your post type a tag into the box below and click the "Add Tag" button.
Add Tag