In Indiana they have always been careless about health and safety matters. As recently as 1892 it was customary for two men to settle a dispute over horse parking by throwing spikes at each other. There is an annual charity event held in Carmel to this day called the Random Precipice Jump, for which they no longer bother documenting fatality figures. Many people in the state would save money on a haircut by laying their hair carefully on the railroad track at the approach of a train.
Another bad habit was to paint the ceiling while carrying a broadsword in the right hand. This was always a bravado thing, started by an Indianapolis husband who felt that painting was for sissies like Goya and only by balancing the brush in one hand with an offensive weapon in the other could he hope to retain some kind of respect in his household as head of the family. The habit persists in some Indiana towns to this day, although the sword has largely been replaced by a bradawl or handgun. Cameron Carter