Main Street Nashville
NASHVILLE WEATHER

Nashville Banner front page on July 12, 1951




July 12, 1951

July 12, 1951

Editor’s note: Main Street Nashville reprints some of the best front pages from the Nashville Banner, an afternoon newspaper that published from 1876 to 1998. The pages are courtesy of the Nashville Public Library, Nashville Banner Collection.

70 YEARS AGO IN THE

NASHVILLE BANNER

It’s been only two years since Tennessee grocery stores began selling wine on Sundays. It’s hard to believe there was a time when groceries weren’t allowed to even be open on Sundays.

In a story on the front page of the July 12, 1951, Banner, butcher union and grocery clerk officials took out civil warrants against operators of three local grocery stores, alleging they remained open for business on Sundays in violation of a 148-year-old Blue Law.

The three stores were sued for a penalty of $10 for allegedly violating Section 5253 of the Code of Tennessee.

District Attorney General J. Carlton Loser issued a statement saying the closing law was not a criminal statute. However, “there is a common-law criminal offense that might be invoked if these grocerymen persist in violating the Sabbath to such an extent that it becomes a nuisance.”

 

 

The law prohibited the pursuance of any vocation on Sunday except that necessary to public health. The mayor of Berry Hill, Ralph Ross, argued that the “segregation of one type of business for Sunday closing is unfair.” Food “ranks as high as gasoline, entertainment and most of the items handled by the average drugstore,” he said.

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