Weird South Carolina Laws That Will Surprise You, Including the Consequences of Buying Silverware on Sundays

If you’re walking along a South Carolina boardwalk and come across a pinball machine, you must be 18 or older to play the popular arcade game.

According to Section 63-19-2430 of the South Carolina Children’s Code, in South Carolina, “a minor under the age of eighteen years shall not play on a pinball machine.”

The old law coincides with the invention of the game, when it was considered a form of gambling.

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While South Carolina still has such a law, it is not widely enforced throughout the state.

In South Carolina, the promise of marriage for the purpose of seducing a woman is strictly prohibited. So much so that there is a law against it.

This law can be found in Section 16-15-50 of the South Carolina Code. This law applies to males over the age of 16 and can result in a prison sentence if violated.

“A male over sixteen years of age who, in this state, seduces an unmarried woman by fraud and with the promise of marriage is guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction, be punished by a fine at the discretion of the court or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year,” the law states.

If you like to dance the night away, don’t plan on partying late in South Carolina.

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This applies at least to Saturdays, as dance venues in the state are closed from midnight Saturday through Sunday.

This law can be found in Title 52 – Entertainment and Sports Competitions in the South Carolina Code of Laws.

Section 52-12-10 states that “it shall be unlawful for any person to keep open, or admit any person into, any public dance hall owned or operated by him, or to permit any person to continue in any such hall, between the hours of twelve o’clock midnight on Saturday and twelve o’clock midnight on Sunday, and all such places shall be and remain closed to the public during such hours.”

The penalty for breaking this law is a fine of $10 to $15 for a first offense, increasing to $50 to $100 for a second offense, or imprisonment for 30 days.

Additionally, South Carolina state law also governs the location of dance halls.

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Under state law, it is illegal for dance halls to be located within one-fourth mile of a church or cemetery in the state. This law is set forth in Section 52-13-20.

If you need a shiny new set of cutlery, building materials or a musical instrument to start a new hobby on Sunday in South Carolina, you might be out of luck because of a state law.

Selling certain items, including cutlery, is illegal on Sundays,

Chapter 53 of the Code of South Carolina contains provisions relating to Sundays, holidays, and other special days.

Under Section 53-1-60, the sale of many goods is prohibited on the first day of the week.

The sale of “clothing and clothing accessories (except those that qualify as swimwear, trinkets, souvenirs, stockings or underwear); household goods, porcelain, glassware and kitchen utensils; home, business and office furnishings and appliances; tools, paints, fittings, building materials and timber; jewellery, silverware, watches, clocks, luggage, musical instruments, recorders, records, radios, televisions, record players, gramophones or so-called hi-fi or stereo sets or equipment; sporting goods (except for sale in premises where sporting events and recreational facilities are permitted); garden goods or piece goods; passenger cars, trucks and trailers” is prohibited under the law.

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Related to this law is the law that, under Section 53-1-40, makes Sunday work “illegal.”

“On the first day of the week, commonly called Sunday, it is forbidden for any person to engage in secular labor, work, business, or occupation incidental to his ordinary calling, or to sell or offer for sale, publicly or privately, or by telephone, retail or wholesale, to consumers any goods, merchandise, or merchandize, or to employ others to engage in labor, work, business, or to sell or offer for sale any goods, merchandise, or merchandize, except necessary or charitable work,” according to South Carolina law.