Iowa
Weird Laws in Iowa: Which Are Still on the Books?
Independently fact-checked against primary sources (last audited October 21, 2026). · 2 primary sources cited on this page. How we verify our legal content
We checked seven claims from popular weird-law lists about Iowa against the Iowa Code and, where a claim names a city, against that city's code of ordinances, as of October 21, 2026. Iowa's list leans local: three of the seven claims point at a city, and each city turned out to have a real rule that is not quite the one described. The same check for other states is in our weird laws by state guide.
Weird laws in Iowa: the verdicts
Each claim below was checked against the Iowa code and, where it names a town, the local code. 7 claims checked.
The claim: Mustached men cannot kiss women.
What the law says: No Iowa Code section restricts kissing by mustached men; "mustache" appears nowhere in the code.
No state law found in the Iowa code as of October 21, 2026.
How we searched
We searched the full text of the Iowa Code for any rule on mustaches or kissing, and read the section lists of the public disorder, vice, and health, safety and welfare chapters.
Parts of the code read
- Iowa Code Chapter 723 (public disorder, including disorderly conduct)
- Iowa Code Chapter 725 (vice)
- Iowa Code Chapter 727 (health, safety and welfare)
No town code was checked for this claim.
Primary source · Checked October 21, 2026.
The claim: Indianola bans ice cream trucks.
What the law says: Indianola does not ban ice cream trucks. Its code licenses and regulates them: ch. 122 (peddlers, solicitors and transient merchants) requires a license and extra application items for selling ice cream from a vehicle, and sec. 122.22 expressly allows a licensed person to sell ice cream and frozen desserts from an approved sanitary vehicle, subject to hours and other conditions.
Primary source · Checked October 21, 2026.
The claim: Restaurants serving margarine must post notice or serve triangular form.
What the law says: Iowa law bars serving colored oleo or margarine at a public eating place unless a conspicuous notice is posted or printed on the menu, each serving is labeled as margarine, or each serving is triangular in shape. A violation is a simple misdemeanor, and the place's state-issued licenses are suspended for one year.
“No person shall serve colored oleo, oleomargarine, or margarine at a public eating place unless a notice that oleo, oleomargarine, or margarine is served is displayed prominently and conspicuously in such place ... or is printed or is otherwise set forth on the menu ... or unless each separate serving bears or is accompanied by labeling identifying it as oleo, oleomargarine, or margarine, or each separate serving thereof is triangular in shape.”
Penalty: Simple misdemeanor, and all state licenses for the public eating place suspended for one year (191.3(3)).
No court opinion in our database cites this section.
Primary source · Checked October 21, 2026.
The claim: Palm reading is illegal in Cedar Rapids.
What the law says: Cedar Rapids once had a fortune-telling provision at Municipal Code sec. 62.25 (Offenses Against Public Peace and Morals); the current code shows '62.25 - (Repealed by Ord. No. 013-03)', and the code's revision table records '13-03 Fortune telling rep. 62.25' among its 2003 entries. The current code search finds no palm-reading or fortune-telling rule.
Cedar Rapids, Iowa: Cedar Rapids Municipal Code sec. 62.25 (fortune telling), repealed by Ord. No. 013-03 (2003) (since repealed)
Primary source · Checked October 21, 2026.
The claim: One-armed piano players must perform for free.
What the law says: No Iowa Code section about one-armed piano players or compelled free performance appears anywhere in the code text.
No state law found in the Iowa code as of October 21, 2026.
How we searched
We searched the full text of the Iowa Code for any rule on pianos or pianists, and read the section lists of the public disorder and health, safety and welfare chapters.
Parts of the code read
- Iowa Code Chapter 723 (public disorder, including disorderly conduct)
- Iowa Code Chapter 727 (health, safety and welfare, including exhibiting persons)
No town code was checked for this claim.
Primary source · Checked October 21, 2026.
The claim: Kisses may last no more than five minutes.
What the law says: No Iowa Code section limits how long a kiss may last.
No state law found in the Iowa code as of October 21, 2026.
How we searched
We searched the full text of the Iowa Code for any rule on kissing or its length, and read the section lists of the public disorder, vice, and health, safety and welfare chapters.
Parts of the code read
- Iowa Code Chapter 723 (public disorder, including disorderly conduct)
- Iowa Code Chapter 725 (vice)
- Iowa Code Chapter 727 (health, safety and welfare)
No town code was checked for this claim.
Primary source · Checked October 21, 2026.
The claim: Ottumwa men may not wink at unknown women.
What the law says: No Ottumwa ordinance about winking at women was found. The real rule is a general city ordinance, Sec. 25-89 (Obstructing public areas), which among other things bars anyone, without authority or justification, from making 'remarks, gestures, noises, signs and the like to disturb, annoy or insult' a person passing along a street, sidewalk or the entrance of a public building. It applies to everyone, says nothing about winking or about women, and is city law, not Iowa state law.
Primary source · Checked October 21, 2026.
Checked October 21, 2026. This is legal history and information, not legal advice. Laws change; the linked official text is the authority.
Margarine in triangles: the one state law that holds up
Iowa Code § 191.3 governs how restaurants serve colored margarine, and the triangle is real. The statute says no person shall serve colored oleo, oleomargarine or margarine at a public eating place unless one of these is true:
- a notice that margarine is served is displayed prominently and conspicuously in the place, or printed on the menu;
- each serving bears or comes with labeling identifying it as margarine; or
- "each separate serving thereof is triangular in shape."
The triangle is one of three ways to tell diners what they are getting, not a requirement on its own. The penalty under § 191.3(3) is heavier than the subject suggests: a simple misdemeanor, plus suspension of all the eating place's state-issued licenses for one year.
Three cities, three different stories
Indianola licenses ice cream trucks
The claim that Indianola bans ice cream trucks has it backward. Chapter 122 of the Indianola Code, on peddlers, solicitors and transient merchants, requires a license and extra application items for selling ice cream from a vehicle.
Section 122.22 then expressly allows a licensed person to sell ice cream and frozen desserts from an approved sanitary vehicle, subject to hours and other conditions. It is regulation, not a ban.
Cedar Rapids repealed its fortune-telling rule
Cedar Rapids once had a fortune-telling provision at Municipal Code sec. 62.25, in the chapter on offenses against public peace and morals. The current code shows the section as repealed by Ord. No. 013-03, and the code's revision table lists that 2003 ordinance as repealing the fortune-telling section.
A search of the current code finds no palm-reading or fortune-telling rule. Whatever the old section said, it is no longer on the books.
Ottumwa and the winking claim
No Ottumwa ordinance about winking at women was found. The rule behind the story is Sec. 25-89, Obstructing public areas, a general ordinance that applies to everyone.
Among other things, it bars anyone, without authority or justification, from making "remarks, gestures, noises, signs and the like to disturb, annoy or insult" a person passing along a street, sidewalk or the entrance of a public building. It does not mention winking or women, and it is city law, not state law.
Kissing, mustaches and one-armed pianists
Three statewide claims found nothing in the Iowa Code. We searched the full text of the code for mustaches, kissing and the length of a kiss, and read the section lists of the public disorder, vice, and health, safety and welfare chapters (723, 725 and 727). The word mustache does not appear anywhere in the code.
The claim that one-armed piano players must perform for free fared the same way. A full-text search for pianos or pianists, and a read of the section lists of chapters 723 and 727, found no such rule.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it true Iowa restaurants must serve margarine in triangles?
Partly. Iowa Code § 191.3 lets a public eating place serve colored margarine only if it posts a notice or prints one on the menu, labels each serving as margarine, or makes each serving triangular. A violation is a simple misdemeanor and all the place's state licenses are suspended for one year.
Is it illegal for a man with a mustache to kiss a woman in Iowa?
No Iowa Code section restricts kissing by mustached men; the word mustache appears nowhere in the code, as of October 21, 2026.
Is palm reading illegal in Cedar Rapids?
Cedar Rapids once had a fortune-telling provision at Municipal Code sec. 62.25, but it was repealed by Ord. No. 013-03 in 2003. A search of the current code finds no palm-reading or fortune-telling rule.
Does Indianola ban ice cream trucks?
No. Indianola Code chapter 122 requires a license for selling ice cream from a vehicle, and sec. 122.22 expressly allows a licensed person to sell ice cream and frozen desserts from an approved sanitary vehicle, subject to hours and other conditions.
What are some weird laws in Iowa?
The margarine rule is the real state law: restaurants serving colored margarine must post notice, label it, or serve it in triangles. City claims about Indianola ice cream trucks, Cedar Rapids palm reading and Ottumwa winking each trace to a real but different ordinance, and no state law was found in the Iowa Code for the kissing and piano claims as of October 21, 2026.
Updates
Independently fact-checked against the cited primary sources
Sources and References
- Iowa Code § 191.3, oleomargarine served at public eating places (Iowa Legislature)(www.legis.iowa.gov).gov
- Indianola Code, Chapter 122, Peddlers, Solicitors and Transient Merchants, incl. sec. 122.22 (official code host)(codelibrary.amlegal.com)
- Cedar Rapids Municipal Code, sec. 62.25 repealed by Ord. No. 013-03 (official code host)(library.municode.com)
- Ottumwa Code of Ordinances Sec. 25-89, Obstructing public areas (official code host)(library.municode.com)
- Iowa Code Chapter 723, Public Disorder (Iowa Legislature)(www.legis.iowa.gov).gov