MERRILLVILLE, Ind. — It is still illegal to buy alcohol at a liquor store on Sunday in Indiana, a red state holding fast to an old blue law.
Grocery stores and gas stations can sell only warm beer, a rule that embeds a sort of mandatory waiting period for impulse drinkers.
But in a state that has some of the quirkiest and most forbidding liquor laws in the country, one of them has been relaxed this year: For the first time in decades, stores and restaurants in the state can sell alcohol on Christmas Day.
In July, a law went into effect that erased a longtime provision that banned the sale of alcohol on Dec. 25. But the law, which will be put to use for the first time Friday, has set off a quiet rebellion among many Hoosiers who say they would like Indiana to buck a trend toward permissiveness across the country, where most states have overturned blue laws, coffee shops like Starbucks have begun selling wine and beer, and dispensaries have sprouted up to sell recreational marijuana.
Many people here have vowed not to buy or sell alcohol Friday out of deference to tradition, religious beliefs, or a determination that, in this culturally conservative state, some days ought to be kept sacred.
Thad Brody, who has run his store, Booze Liquors, in northwest Indiana for 42 years, said he intends to ignore the new law, keeping his doors closed as usual.
"Christmas is a holy day," Brody said. "I think folks should pay their maker some homage, not shop for liquor."
Mark Finch, a clerk at Grapevine Cottage in Zionsville, in suburban Indianapolis, said the store is willing to forgo the chance of extra sales.
"It doesn't matter to us," he said of the new law. "We're still taking that day off."
In the Midwest, where alcohol is readily available, Indiana stands out for its restraint. In neighboring Illinois, grocery stores often have full bars that routinely serve beer and Bloody Marys by late morning, and shopping carts with drink holders, allowing customers to comfortably sip a long-stemmed glass of wine while roaming the aisles. Even teenagers can legally drink in Wisconsin's bars and restaurants, as long as they are accompanied by a consenting parent.
The push to allow Christmas Day sales in Indiana came in part from state Representative Jerry Torr, a Republican. Torr said in an interview that he had never thought much about the law, figuring that if people wanted to drink on Christmas, they could stock up the day before.
But a bartender at a hotel restaurant in Indianapolis changed Torr's mind, telling him that every year, customers who wanted to order a glass of wine with their Christmas meal complained about the blanket ban on alcohol sales.
The bigger problem, Torr said, is that Indiana has a patchwork of liquor laws that is confusing and outdated.
Among the oddities: Not only can grocery stores not sell chilled beer, but liquor stores are not allowed to sell cold soda or any food, even a bag of chips, Torr said. Retailers like Target are banned from selling hard liquor — unless they have a pharmacy on site.