If you google “dumb laws in New Jersey” you are sure to come across one that says it is illegal for a man to knit during fishing season. The only problem is, no one lists a citation for the law.

Other dumb laws have links to the text of the law in question, but not this one. I am highly suspicious that this is really a law, but Snopes.com is silent on the issue. I tried searching for the law on the New Jersey legislature’s website to no avail and page after page of google searches provide no clarity, either. The only reasonable explanation came on the Snopes message board where someone mentioned that on the island of Sark (one of the Channel Islands in England where the island of Jersey is), it was illegal for men to knit the woolen jumpers the islands were known for because it kept them from fishing, the islands’ main source of income. Jersey, being bigger, wasn’t as reliant on fishing, so the law did not apply there. The only problem is, the poster doesn’t give a citation for that law, either.

In the absence of proof for either law, I’m calling shenanigans on the whole thing. If anyone has any proof of either explanation being true, please let me know.

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