On the Internet, you can often read about the next “strange American law”, which does not allow to remove labels (called labels or tags) from bedding. We checked whether such a law exists in reality.

The fact that cutting shortcuts from mattresses and pillows is extremely undesirable or even impossible, reports a lot sitesdedicated to these products or appropriate furniture. This is especially true orthopedic mattresses, and the reason is banal - a possible refusal of the manufacturer from warranty obligations. The rule of good tone from the seller is considered to warn the client about this.

However, we see a completely different emphasis in selection of American laws, where the inviolability of the label is presented as an example of a completely official, but very short requirement of local authorities. Moreover, there are a lot on the network Photos Such labels, where black in white says: "Do not cut the label under pain of punishment."

If we compare modern shortcuts with relatively older ones, we will see an important difference:

The third line of the inscription on a more new label reads: "with the exception of the buyer." Is it really forbidden to remove the label only to the seller? For clarifying the truth, we will have to look into the federal legislation of the United States. In the 15th section of the US Code (commerce and trade, chapter 2, subsection V) We read“After the product from textile fiber is received, it is considered illegal to commercial operation, with the exception of cases provided for in this submarine, removal or damage, as well as initiating or participating in the removal or damage of any print, tags, labels until any product from textile fiber is sold and delivered to the final consumer, and any person violates this section will be violating this section. guilty of an unscrupulous method of competition, as well as in an unscrupulous or misleading action or practice in accordance with the Law on the Federal Trade Commission (15 USC 41 and trail) ”.

Indeed, it turns out that American law prohibits removing shortcuts from all products of a certain category, but we are not talking about the owners, but about sellers. Where did this requirement come from? As the site reports Mental Floss, the need for this label arose at the beginning of the 20th century, against the background of boom in the field of consumer protection. At that time, mattresses were often made with a rather dubious filling - horse hair, corn husk, food waste, old rags, newspapers and everything else that the manufacturer could find. That's just an unpleasant bacteria and parasites that provided a restless sleep to some of these fillers with a bonus to some of these fillers.

The federal authorities solved this problem by demanding from the manufacturers of mattresses to attach a label with a clear description of the content to their products. To get around the costs, unscrupulous manufacturers came up with a way out: having fulfilled their legal obligations, they simply torn off all the labels before sending to retail merchants. Sender sellers who went to sew shortcuts from other mattresses also made their contributions.

The authorities responded with a new decree. Now on the labels there was a ban on their removal or damage, which we got acquainted above. This step frightened the unscrupulous sellers of mattresses, but also confused many consumers who obediently left labels, fearing judicial persecution. And only in recent decades, amendments have been amended, and now the exception of “except for the buyer” appeared on the labels. However, the city legend was no longer stopped, and it began to beat it in all kinds of sources - from advertising and animated series to serious films and literature. A separate page in the encyclopedia is devoted to this phenomenon TV tropes.

Counses happen in life. So, on the website of the American educational foundation wghb tells The story of one American who for a long time did not know what to do with her old wedding dress, until she finally came up with letting him on pillows for her daughters. What was her surprise when, under the fabric of new pillows, she felt for a label 10 by 15 cm, the inscription on which she warned that it was impossible to cut off the label. The seamstress was frightened by possible responsibility and left a bulky label.

Thus, information about the ban on deleting labels at the legislative level in the United States is really true. True, many buyers incorrectly perceive the warning as addressed to themselves.