According to the Spanish Wikipedia, "with the mentality that the wealth of a country depends on its citizen's labor, the use of these blinds was discouraged in some countries, to the extreme that Benjamin Franklin even proposed that church bells should ring at dawn so that the people are ready to work from dawn to dusk".
It cites no sources, but some Googling uncovers this letter by Franklin:
which in fact contains the remark about church bells, and also proposes that "a tax be laid of a louis per window, on every window that is provided with shutters to keep out the light of the sun".
However, that letter seems like very scanty evidence to say that using that kind of blinds was actually "discouraged" anywhere...
It cites no sources, but some Googling uncovers this letter by Franklin:
http://www.webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/franklin3.html
which in fact contains the remark about church bells, and also proposes that "a tax be laid of a louis per window, on every window that is provided with shutters to keep out the light of the sun".
However, that letter seems like very scanty evidence to say that using that kind of blinds was actually "discouraged" anywhere...