Odd Laws: Georgia Don’t Stick a Fork in It

As part of a publicity stunt to promote the city of Gainesville as the poultry capital of the world, a law was created in 1961 that made it illegal to eat fried chicken with anything other than fingers. The law declares fried chicken “a culinary delicacy sacred to this municipality, this county, this state, the Southland, and this republic.”

Georgia certainly takes their fried chicken seriously, very seriously.

In 2009, a Louisiana woman celebrating her 91st birthday at a restaurant in Gainesville was arrested as a practical joke for breaking the fried chicken law. Her arrest summons detained her at the table until she mastered the proper technique down to the licking of the fingers once she had finished. 
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The arrest was a PR stunt, much like the original law. The woman was pardoned once she finished her finger-licking chicken. There was one other condition of the pardon: that she return to Gainesville often to eat lots of chicken.

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