General Hours of Business

Financial institutions generally are open to the public from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday-Friday. Governmental offices are open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., but closed at lunchtime. Most merchants are open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Some, especially hardware, department stores, and lumberyards stay open for part or all of as Saturday. Sunday closures are nearly absolute.
Shops and stores that vary from these hours are noted in their individual descriptions. Restaurants usually maintain hours that suit their clientele; early-rising New Jerusalemite find the notion of eating at 8 p.m. decadently continental and conceivably un-Christian. Commercial activity halts on Sunday. With certain exceptions, it is against the law (and the law will be enforced) to operate any business of any kind between the hours of 6 a.m. and 11 a.m. on the Sabbath. Then one hears the sound of money only in collection plates.
However, on Sunday, with the express permission of the selectmen, Western Union receives and delivers wires, but does not transmit them; the telephone exchange is open and operating, as is the B&M rail line and the local taxi service; restaurants, bars, gift shops, or other luxurious enterprises, with a single exception, never open on Sunday. Sunday dinners are family affairs, not commercial opportunities.