Banned: Perfumes, plastic bags, saxophones

Officials in Tuttle, Okla., want you to leave your perfumes and after shaves at the door — literally. The city recently posted signs stating visitors to city hall must “remain at the front of the building” if they are wearing perfumes, colognes or after shaves, according to United Press International (UPI). It is among the latest in unusual bans issued by government officials.

Tuttle officials say they aren’t being arbitrary with the no-fragrances ban, though there have been complaints. “Every now and then, you get some people who think it’s stupid,” said city manager Tim Young.

But Tuttle officials say they are trying to look out for allergy sufferers, who might be sensitive to fragrances. Portland, Ore., took a similar step in 2011 when it banned city workers from using fragrances. The city has also asked its janitors to use unscented cleaning products.

Other governments have also gone into the banning business, according to News Channel 5, an ABC station in Cleveland. New York City is poised to ban large sodas and other sugary drinks. Mayor Michael Bloomberg says the soda ban is an effort to combat obesity. Massachusetts is considering a ban on the sale of bottled water.

Los Angeles recently banned plastic grocery bags. It wasn’t the first government to do so. The bags are also banned in nearly four dozen other California municipalities, every county in Hawaii and Portland, Ore., (if you’re counting, that’s bags and fragrances in Portland). Austin, Texas went further, banning both disposable paper and plastic bags starting in March 2013.

Some bans target specific groups. In Salem, Ore., you can’t play a saxophone in city parks. People complained that street musicians were making too much noise. Forest Park, an Atlanta suburb, bans mothers from breastfeeding children ages 2 and up in public. The concern, according to city officials: public indecency.

But perhaps the cruelest ban, at least from a kids’ view, is in San Francisco. The city has banned the sale of McDonald’s Happy Meals since 2010.