Apparently there is one theory that the strict laws were originally written on blue paper, but that claim is beaten down by all of the sources. Instead, "A more probable derivation is based on an 18th-century usage of the word blue meaning 'rigidly moral” in a disparaging sense" (Britannica) . . . "(a 'bluenose' for example is one who advocates a rigorous moral code" (Snopes).
The laws were "strictest in Puritan, Bible-oriented communities" (Britannica) and the first recorded use of the term blue laws was by a reverend named Samuel Peters, in his book titled General History of Connecticut published in 1781, in which he lists "45 blue laws [. . . ] that were wholly or substantially true" (Britannica).
Blue Law Examples From Peters' Work:
-regular work on Sunday,
plus any buying, selling, traveling, public entertainment, or sports is forbidden
-“The judges shall determine controversies without a jury”
-“married persons must live together or be imprisoned”
-“a wife shall be
good evidence against her husband”
-“the selectmen, on finding
children ignorant, may take them away from their parents and put them
into better hands, at the expense of their parents.”
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/70275/blue-law
http://www.snopes.com/language/colors/bluelaws.asp
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