The Embroideress

When I was a young child in the post-WWII years one of my favorite fun activities was coloring margarine.

The dairy industry in the US had a very powerful influence on regulatory agencies at that time and they fought the sale of margarine (as opposed to butter) with all their might. What eventually evolved were regulations forbidding the sale of solored margarine products.

So margarine was sold in hearvy plastic bags containing one pound each of white goo that was the same color and about the same consistancy as modern Crisco. Embeded in the corner of the bag was a small plastic pack of yellow food color. To achieve that Parkay look one popped the little color pack releasing the color into the bag of uncolored margarine and then squeezed and squished and squashed until you had the two products thoroughly mixed to produce a bag of golden margarine.

This was one of my favorite activities as a kidlet and was one of the few times I was allowed to play with my food. Later, of course, the various companies producing margarine were able to have the regulation abandoned and you could buy colored margarine by the tub or quarter or pound, etc.

Labels: Color History, Food and Color