This Is Why Massachusetts Liquor Stores Are Closed On Thanksgiving And Christmas
If there was any day to consume alcohol in order to "party", it would be the holidays, yes? Doesn't the phrase go, "Eat, Drink, and be Merry"? In fact, most states ALLOW the sale of beer, wine, and other spirits on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Not Massachusetts, though.
I mean, no one is saying you can't CONSUME an alcoholic beverage on Christmas and Thanksgiving, you just can't BUY it. The package stores are closed. Any other holiday, you're good to go, just not Thanksgiving and Christmas. But, why?
Blue Laws. Tradition. Puritanism.
What's a blue law?
Blue laws, also known as Sunday laws, Sunday trade laws and Sunday closing laws, are laws restricting or banning certain activities on specified days, usually Sundays in the western world. -wikipedia.org
Blue laws, for years, prohibited the sale of alcohol on Sundays in Massachusetts, that ended in 2003 when them Gov. Mitt Romney repealed the antiquated law.
What refuses to go away though, however, is the law prohibiting the sale of alcohol on Thanksgiving and Christmas, and it's due to the same reason.
Currently, liquor sales are illegal on Thanksgiving and Christmas in Massachusetts. That law, Garry said, most likely originated from the “Blue Laws” in the Colonial days, when it was seen unholy to drink alcohol on a holiday. -lowellsun.com
If you work for a package store, you're probably ok with the current law remaining in place, but for the rest of the population who forgot to go "the store" early, it's a problem!
So, remember to go early. Happy Holidays, everyone.