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TIL about an old law in my town that bans whistling after 10 PM | Dumb Laws We Found - Free To Speak

TIL about an old law in my town that bans whistling after 10 PM

I was looking up local ordinances after my neighbor kept complaining about my night shift habits (you know, coming home and making noise). Turns out there's still a law on the books in my little town of Maplewood that says no whistling between 10 PM and 6 AM. Has anyone else found a weird noise-related law in their area that's still technically enforceable?

3 comments

3 Comments

gibson.morgan2mo ago

Yeah, the whole "it's about having something on paper" thing you said really hits the nail on the head. That's the pattern I see everywhere now - people think old laws are jokes until they realize having ANYTHING on the books is better than nothing when someone's being a jerk. It's like how my buddy's HOA has this super specific rule about flagpole heights from 1974, nobody cared for decades, then some guy put up a 40 foot flag with a loud flapping sound at all hours. Suddenly everyone loved that obscure rule. Same with noise laws, same with parking rules, same with a million other things. People need that technicality to lean on when common decency fails. Quiet hours should just be a thing everyone agrees on, but they don't, so weird old laws end up being the only backup you've got.

ross.lily2mo ago

Used to roll my eyes at these old laws, figured they were just quirky leftovers nobody cared about. Then a guy moved in next door who blasts polka music at 2 AM through open windows. Cops couldn't do much because there's no actual noise ordinance covering that, just the whistling thing. Looked into it and you bet I'm glad that whistling law is still on the books now. It's not about whistling, it's about having something on paper that says "hey, shut up at night." Changed my whole view on these weird little laws, they can actually be useful.

aaron7402mo ago

Hard disagree. Having some dusty old ordinance about whistling doesn't help when the problem is a polka band at 2 AM. That cop just didn't want to deal with it. They said "nothing covers that" which sounds like a lazy cop, not a gap in the law. Most towns have general disorderly conduct or disturbing the peace laws that absolutely cover loud music at any hour. Relying on a specific whistling law just gives people a false sense of security. The next guy will blast death metal and the whistling law won't apply, and you'll be right back where you started.