Iowa’s Weirdest Laws

There are plenty of lists floating around the internet of strange laws in Iowa. Many of the laws on those lists have been proven to just be internet rumors. Mustached men can in fact kiss women in public, and there was nothing passed stating one-armed piano players must play for free...not sure where these fake law rumors originated, but while digging for more info I did find a couple of strange laws that are actually true.

1. Horses and Fire Hydrants

In Marshalltown, IA  horses are forbidden from eating fire hydrants...which is a head-scratcher, to say the least. Our best guess as to why this law would be passed is that it has something to do with the 1937 code that prohibits hitching or tying a horse (or any other animal, for that matter) to fire hydrant, telegraph, telephone, electric light, or other pole or to any fence, tree, shrub or other property. Anyway, I don't think there are many people out there who need to worry about hitching their horse in city limits anymore.

2. Palm Reading

In Cedar Rapids, it's illegal to read people's palms in the city limits. Article 62.25 states "No person shall tell fortunes or practice phrenology, palmistry or clairvoyancy in the city." Bad news for anyone who relies on fortune tellers!

As I stated previously, you may have seen other lists that claim multiple weird Iowa laws, but in my research, the only two I could prove to be true are written above. So go ahead, mustached men. Kiss your gal, you're not breaking any laws.