Have you ever fallen across a rule so strange, so oddly specific, that you wonder what on earth happened to make it necessary? Believe it or not, the history of judicial is full of these little gems, laws that might have made sense once upon a time but now sound more like punchlines than policies. In Grandpa’s Hodgepodge and Potpourri, Joe Morris devotes a whole section to these quirky, outdated statutes, and reading them feels like flipping through the scrapbook of a nation’s funniest “what were they thinking?” moments.
These aren’t just odd legal leftovers. They’re glimpses into the chances of local history, and sometimes, human nature. Take Alabama, for example, where it’s illegal to put an ice cream cone in your back pocket. It sounds ridiculous, but apparently, it was once a clever trick for stealing horses, no wheels needed, just a sweet trail to follow. Then there’s Alaska’s ban on giving alcohol to a moose, a law that practically writes its comedy sketch.
Some of these laws are oddly practical once you hear the backstory. In Arizona, it’s illegal for a donkey to sleep in a bathtub after 7 p.m. Why? Because one night in the 1920s, a flash flood washed a donkey, bathtub, and all downstream, creating chaos for rescuers. The lawmakers decided one bathtub-bound donkey disaster was enough.
Joe’s life doesn’t just list these laws; It treats them with the same good-natured humor that runs through the rest of his book. He can present the facts, then step back to let you picture the meaninglessness for yourself. You can almost hear him giggling as he reads out Hawaii’s ban on putting coins in your ears or Georgia’s rule that you can’t live more than 90 days on a boat without moving.
What makes this part of his book enjoyable is that it’s more than just a parade of trivia. It’s a reminder that history is made up of people, real people with real chances, strange habits, and occasional gaps in judgment. Every oddball statute tells a story, whether it’s about small-town politics, local culture, or just the kind of mischief that gets passed down as legend.
It’s also a reminder not to take life too seriously. Sure, we all need laws to keep society running smoothly, but some of the best laughs come from rules that overshot the mark or stuck around long after their usefulness passed. Reading these entries in Joe’s book feels a bit like swapping stories on a front porch, half history lesson, half comedy hour.
And while we can laugh at these laws now, they also invite us to think about the everyday rules we follow without question. Which ones will future generations find just as funny? Will someone in 2125 look back at today’s orders and wonder why anyone ever needed a “no texting while walking” law?
By collecting these curiosities and reflecting on everything from baseball stats to mottos and marriage, Joe Morris has given us something special. It’s a book that makes you laugh, think, and appreciate the odd little details that make life interesting.
This book will soon be available on Amazon.