My friend told me about an aunt (true blue Pennsylvanian) who would explain Pennsylvania’s backwards liquors laws with this explanation:
“It’s because Pennsylvania is a commonwealth.”
The more I think about this explanation the more I have come to realize that many Pennsylvanian’s explain all sorts of Pennsylvanian idiosyncrasies on the “commonwealth” status. Of course this explanation is ridiculous, because you could easily replace commonwealth with cream puff and it would have the effect on the law.
