Oddly enough, the repeal of the Sunday blue laws in Elizabeth City, while intended as a measure of relief and to give a little pleasure to folks who are abroad on the Sabbath, does not seem to cover all cases exactly. It seems that while the drug stores are open and selling drinks from their fountains, the proprietor of a restaurant cannot sell the same drinks from bottles.
The question first came up in police court Monday morning when the owner of a negro café was on the stand as a witness in a case involving the sale of cigarettes to a minor. During the examination, the witness was told by the Presenting Attorney that he had no right to sell bottled drinks in his restaurant on Sunday although he carried a license to operate an eating house.
The negroes are now wondering how it is a colored man can’t treat his girl to a bottle of pop on the Sabbath. Negro café owners are puzzled as to the meaning of the Sunday law and cannot find an explanation of the reason why they aren’t allowed to sell the same drinks that are sold elsewhere from fountains. In fact they are puzzled as to what to sell, and what to not sell at all.
No explanation is made of the fact that white restaurants sell bottled drinks on the Sabbath without police interference.
From page 2 of the Elizabeth City Independent, Friday, Nov. 2, 1923
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