Lemonade stand

A roadside lemonade stand in Georgia, July 1975, also selling squash and cucumbers.
A professional vendor in New Orleans.

A lemonade stand is a business that is commonly owned and operated by a child or children, to sell lemonade. The concept has become iconic of youthful summertime American culture[1] to the degree that parodies and variations on the concept exist across media. The term may also be used to refer to stands that sell similar beverages like iced tea.[2] It is typically done in the summer season.

The stand may be a folding table, while the archetypical version is custom-made out of plywood or cardboard boxes.[3][4] A paper sign in front typically advertises the lemonade stand.

Educational benefits

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Lemonade stands are often viewed as a way for children to experience business at a young age. The ideas of profit, economic freedom, and teamwork are often attributed to traits lemonade stands can instill.[3] However, unlike a real business, they benefit from free labor and rent, and may have a lack of expenses.[3]

Legality

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In some areas, lemonade stands are usually in technical violation of several laws, including operation without a business license and/or permit, lack of adherence to health codes, and sometimes child labor laws.[5] Lemonade stands have been known to spread disease due to poor sanitation, including a 1941 case in Chicago where 12 people were infected with poliovirus virus, five of whom were paralyzed, from a child's lemonade stand.[6]

Enforcement of these laws for lemonade stand operations are extremely rare, but have been known to occur, typically to public outcry.[1] In June 2015, police in Overton, Texas told children running a lemonade stand that they would need to apply for a permit and check with the health department before selling perishable food.[7]

In 2018, Country Time created Legal-Ade, which pays up to $300 of the legal fees for lemonade stands fined in 2017 or 2018, or for 2018 permits.[8]

The New York Legislature took up a bill in 2019 that, if passed, will explicitly make lemonade stands operated by minors legal and exempt from most regulations.[9] As of that summer, fourteen U.S. states explicitly allow operation of a lemonade stand without a permit.[10]

In literature

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The plot of the 2007 children's novel The Lemonade War centers on a rivalry between two siblings' rivalry where they compete with each other to open a more successful lemonade stand business.[11]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Hayes, Kevin. "Lemonade Stand Shut Down by Food Inspectors; County Chair Apologizes". CBS News. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
  2. ^ Cox, Doug. "Lemonade stand economics". Pryor Daily Times. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
  3. ^ a b c Aileron. "Are Lemonade Stands Good Training For Entrepreneurs?". Forbes. Retrieved 2017-04-20.
  4. ^ Capotosto, Rosario; Wicks, Harry (August 1979). "Build the best lemonade stand on your block". Popular Mechanics. 152 (2): 86, 87, 129–131.
  5. ^ Police in Ga. shut down girls' lemonade stand. Associated Press. Retrieved 2011-07-16.
  6. ^ "Girl's Lemonade Stand Gives Hot Tip on Paralysis". The Kerrville Times. 18 September 1941. p. 8. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  7. ^ "Police Shut Down Girls' Lemonade Stand for Ridiculous Reason". yahoo.com. 10 June 2015.
  8. ^ Campisi, Jessica; Ahmed, Saeed (2018-06-11). "For kids getting busted for running lemonade stands without permits, these guys are here to help". CNN. Retrieved 2018-07-05.
  9. ^ https://www.wivb.com/news/state/dispute-over-kid-s-lemonade-stand-prompts-legislation-in-ny/1975908435 Archived 2019-05-03 at the Wayback Machine?
  10. ^ "Country Time wants to legalize all lemonade stands". 19 June 2019.
  11. ^ "The Lemonade War (Lemonade War, book 1) by Jacqueline Davies". www.fantasticfiction.com. Retrieved 2024-07-25.