Massachusetts Keeps Thanksgiving Day Alcohol Sales Ban

Massachusetts residents will still be unable to purchase alcohol on Thanksgiving. This reality follows a bill to repeal a centuries-old “blue law” that failed to pass in the State House.

According to a Telegram & Gazette report, under current Massachusetts law, liquor sales are forbidden on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. This mandate is one of the state's last surviving blue laws, regulations influenced by Puritan values and practices rooted in colonial-era regulations.

Massachusetts blue laws also mandate which businesses may legally operate on Sundays and some legal holidays. These laws also place special regulations on alcohol sales.

A bill filed by state Rep. David Linsky, D-Natick, would have removed the phrase “Thanksgiving Day” from the law, allowing businesses to sell alcoholic beverages on Thanksgiving.

“This is a common-sense bill that is intended to be a convenience to the public,” Linsky told the Somerville/Medford News Weekly in July. “How many of us have needed to pick up a bottle of wine on Thanksgiving, only to find out that liquor stores were closed? Stores wouldn't have to be open — it would be their option. The current law is a vestige of the blue laws and needs to be repealed.”

According to the Telegram & Gazette, Linsky has filed bills on the matter during every legislative session since at least 2019 to repeal the provision. As in previous years, this year's bill was sent to study order on Monday, Nov. 17, an action that basically kills the bill.