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Albert Lea’s version of the Green River Law
Published Friday, July 24, 2009
Just two weeks ago at about 8 p.m., I was startled when someone pounded on the front entry of my residence Were my nice neighbors encountering some kind of problem? Did some young child need a place of refuge?
When I opened the front door, I was confronted by a rather aggressive salesman wanting to sell me some version of a home security program or system. This jerk insisted I was living in a very dangerous city. I nicely told him I wasn’t interested in whatever he had for sale and closed the door.
It had been a long time since a door-to-door salesperson had tried to sell me some unwanted product, service or magazine subscription. This unexpected visit reminded me of the past years when there were all too many of these unwanted visitors.
Several days later, one of my associates here at the Tribune, who lives about three streets to the west told me about a strange encounter she had with a young woman that same evening who tried to sell her a home security system. This sounded all too similar to the encounter I had with the pesky salesman. I quickly came to the opinion that a a sales crew from somewhere else had been dumped off in our part of the city that evening.
Ed Shannon
These two incidents reminded me of something from the past called the Green River Law, or what Wikipedia calls an ordinance. Here’s Wikipedia’s explanation of this part of American life.
“The name Green River Ordinance is given to a common American city ordinance prohibiting door-to-door solicitation. Under such an ordinance, it is illegal for any business to sell their items door-to-door without express permission from the household beforehand. Some versions prohibit all organizations, including non-profit charitable, political, and religious groups, from soliciting or canvassing any household that makes it clear in writing, that it does not want such solicitations (generally with a ‘No Trespassing’ or ‘No Solicitations’ sign posted).
“The ordinance is named for the city of Green River, Wyo., the first city to enact it.”
I’m sure Albert Lea once had this type of legal restraint for those traveling door-to-door sales jerks. I’m still doing some research on this topic.
In the past many communities really enforced this law or ordinance to control those unwanted door-to-door sales people. Part of this was based on protecting local businesses and to also eliminate illegal sales activities.
However, during the past several decades the door-to-door sales system has declined somewhat and been replaced with unwanted telephone sales campaigns, e-mail trash and junk mail. Thankfully, one can hang up the telephone, delete the unwanted e-mail and recycle the junk mail.
Yet, there are still a few door-to-door folks ringing the door bell or pounding on the front entry of my home. They’re representing some local church group or a local business looking for prospective customers and/or sales. These are folks I can tolerate.
There’s one of those door knockers I still remember. He was an Albert Lea High School student who was selling the Tiger Pride Discount Card several years ago. I purchased one of these cards and soon paid for it with the bargain deals available from several local supporting firms. Since that time I’ve made it a special point to purchase one of these cards each fall to help support the Tiger football team.
Now here’s a special request for our fine readers. Does someone have one or more copies of the Southern Minnesota News? This really obscure weekly newspaper was issued by Trades Publishing Co. during World War II. The only copy at the museum is Vol. 1, No. 11, dated June 4, 1942.
Please give me a call or bring whatever copies are available to the Tribune and let’s see what evolves.
Ed Shannon’s column has been appearing in the Tribune every Friday since December 1984.
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Comments
Posted by nisperos (anonymous) on July 24, 2009 at 1:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The Green River Ordinance (GRO) is under assault all over the country and door to door salespeople are looking for a Supreme Court case. It's my opinion that one doesn't want their community to become the target of a request for modification of GRO by licensing because this is the first step to later arguing that licensing itself is too vague and violates commercial free speech...
I think the way most Green River ordinances work is that it bars door-to-door sales with an exception for charitable and political organizations EXCEPT where someone posts a "no trespassing" or "no solicitation" sign, which then bars even charitable and political organizations...
Typically, "no knock" handbills or flyers are allowed EXCEPT where a "no trespassing" or "no solicitation" sign is posted which then also bars leaving sales/informational material or samples.
Often the ordinance is only enforced by complaint and then it can be either a criminal (typically misdemeanor) or civil (fine only) offense.
I'm not sure if Albert Lea has a Green River Ordinance.
These days, you can get a special "Hairbrush Cleaner Tool" from Fuller Brush on-line or find a Tupperware "citrus-peeler" on EBay. Businesses who want to bring product to your door such as dairy or produce can advertise in print or on a web page. We sure don't need uninvited solicitation on our private property or in our private lives.
Posted by nisperos (anonymous) on July 24, 2009 at 1:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Door-to-Door sales can victimize teens who join up with travelling sales crews. Traveling Sales Crews. An Information Web Site:
Slaves To The Sale. By Nancy Stancill. An award-winning series originally published in the Houston Chronicle: http://www.travelingsalescrews.info/slav...
The Door To Door Sales Identity Theft Scam: Adapting Old Methods To Today's Purposes:
http://www.identitytheftfixes.com/the_do...
Door-to-Door sales are the bastion of scam artists and promote break-ins by letting crooks know who is and isn't home and who is home and is vulnerable. A person shouldn't have to be afraid to open their door or have to endure unsolicited high pressure bullying sales tactics. The ratio of those who would be responsible to those who would be questionable favors the unscrupulous and the crooks. Why would anyone want to make their neighborhoods less safe?
Posted by nisperos (anonymous) on July 24, 2009 at 2:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)
A little bit of the History of Green River Ordinances is in order. These ordinances are named after an ordinance enacted on November 16, 1931 in the Town of Green River, Wyoming. Night shift railroad workers and their wives marched on Green River's City Council to get it enacted.
Here's more from the City of Green River and a bit of how the ordinance spread around the country: http://www.cityofgreenriver.org/pages/16...
This additional reason would be important one today with the potential for public health issues and the spread of contagious diseases, for instance the H1N1 virus:
"...In his August 13, 1938, letter to W. A. Paxson, Chief Solicitor for the City of Washington, Ohio, T. S. Taliaferro Jr. [the attorney who wrote up the ordinance for Green River] stated that his second reason for drawing up the ordinance was 'to prevent contagious diseases being carried by promiscuous peddlers, traveling in their automobiles from one community to another, which has been sustained as being both constitutional and desirable by the Supreme Court of Wyoming, the United States Circuit Court of Appeals, and by the Supreme Court of the United States.'..."
The Press: Slamming the Door, Time Magazine, Jun. 18, 1951: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/articl...
About Regulation of Peddlers and Solicitors - Court Decisions, Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington (WA State - both Federal and state cases): http://www.mrsc.org/Subjects/Legal/nuisa...
Posted by AllAmerican (anonymous) on July 24, 2009 at 5:33 p.m.
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
Posted by AllAmerican (anonymous) on July 24, 2009 at 5:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Segregation
Pronunciation: \ˌse-gri-ˈgā-shən\
Function: noun
Date: 1555
1: the act or process of segregating : the state of being segregated
2 a: the separation or isolation of a race, class, or ethnic group by enforced or voluntary residence in a restricted area, by barriers to social intercourse, by separate educational facilities, or by other discriminatory means b: the separation for special treatment or observation of individuals or items from a larger group <segregation of gifted children into accelerated classes>
3: the separation of allelic genes that occurs typically during meiosis
Just another thought!
Posted by Disgusted (anonymous) on July 25, 2009 at 7:53 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I am not a promoter of door to door adult salespersons but I find that they are infrequent visitors and can normally be dispatched with a "no thank you". I do have a problem with some of the solicitations that the schools are requiring our children to perform.
The age of door to door magazine salespersons has dropped from the late teens to students ages 8 to 17. They are also selling candy, pop corn, etc. It is not a new venture for the schools. They have been participating in this since our children were in school and they are now in their 40's. My blood pressure goes up everytime a young child knocks on my door and he or she is not accompanied by an adult. I keep thinking about all the money we have to pay in taxes to support the schools and they are still promoting this activity. It will only stop when some poor child is brutalized by one of their prospective customers.
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