The EZ Color Pak (for Cudahy’s Delrich margarine) and the Pliofilm “Squeeze-Mix” margarine package: two versions of a package that would never have existed except for the strength of the Dairy lobby in getting laws passed that prohibited margarine from being pre-colored to resemble butter. (The loophole being, that consumers could color it themselves.)
Never mind that butter itself was often artificially colored yellow—to make it look more like what it actually was.
Unsalted butter and whipped butter are almost as white as margarine. Should we then make the butter industry pay a tax on white butter, which looks like margarine, in order to be sure that the housewife who wants margarine does not get fooled Into buying butter? …
During its many years of trying to exist despite artificially created handicaps, the margarine industry has demonstrated the type of creative and inventive ability that few other food industries have displayed. Its latest effort to overcome the discrimination against it is truly remarkable. … The margarine industry has introduced a color pellet into the margarine container and by merely kneading the bag in which the margarine is sold, the housewife can color the margarine.
Oleomargarine: Hearings Before the Committee on Agriculture
House of Representatives, Eighty-first Congress, 1949
Albert Lowenfels (whose work for Hotel Bar Butter we were just looking at on Monday) while clearly a “butter man” has also defended margarine’s right to be yellow. In 1952 he came out publicly in support of repealing the laws regulating margarine’s color.
(More about Lowenfel’s defense of butter’s chief competitor, after the fold…)
In an article that begins:
When a Butter Man says, “Lift the restrictions on oleo”
Lowenfels says,
At that time, the sale of colored margarine was not legal and the margarine people gave out color pills or put their margarine in squeeze bags so that the consumer could make his margarine yellow. Well, as I took my butter notes I also watched many many people buying margarine. And it struck me that the dairy industry was not fighting the 20-odd manufacturers of margarine any more, but was actually combating housewives who in spite of all the trouble were buying margarine and coloring it themselves.
I felt— and still feel— that this one ad did more to build up good will for our brand of butter than anything we have ever done. I was indeed surprised when within a day the Daily News ran an editorial commenting favorably on this ad.
“The Ad I’ll Always Remember”
A word for the opposition by Albert Lowenfels, Hotel Bar Foods Inc.
Printers’ Ink, 1964 Volume 289
(I tried, but could not find the ad or the Daily News editorial.)
In a letter to NY’s governor Lowenfel wrote this:
“… some representatives of the farmers’ organizations who battle colored margarine are not only misjudging public opinion, but also are causing ill feeling toward the dairy industry…
Butter is nature’s finest spread and always will be in demand, but I think it’s wrong to make the many housewives who want to buy margarine go through the messy color mixing job as they do now in this state, or send them to nearby states to buy it already colored.”
Albert Lowenfels, Hotel Bar Butter, 1952
Of course, there was also something novel and interactive about a package that asks the consumer to “pinch the color berry” and “knead the bag.”
Eventually yellow margarine was permitted, thus spelling the end of the Squeeze-Mix EZ Color paks.
I would like to purchase a picture of this old time spread
I remember colorizing margarine with that yellow pill one had to purchase to get yellow (the color of butter) margarine. It was foolish and silly!–DL
I’ve been asking my friends my age and none of them remember this. I used to fight my sister over squeezing it.
You wrote that a long time ago, but I just saw it. We used that margerine all the time. We lived on a farm, and had a huge kitchen. My two brothers and I had the job of mixing the margering with the color bubble inside it. One of us would burst the little color bubble and then we’d sit in a triangle, around the kitchen, and toss it back and forth until it was mixed. We’d catch it, then squeeze it 3 times, then toss it to the next person who repeated it. It was always a fun game and it helped my mom out by mixing it. We never minded using it, it was what we always did. That was in the 40s. Fun memories.
I was born in 1941 and remember well squeezing the white oleo bag with the yellow capsule, working it back and forth until the contents of the oleo bag were consistently yellow. I remember my mother explaining to me that the “butter lobby” did not want oleo margarine to be sold as “yellow” because it would be the same color as butter. She was a sharp consumer and let us “churn” the little bag of oleo. And it tasted like butter, kinda…
We were poor and my dad earned $90 a week as a welder… so we squeezed the oleo bag, colored the margarine, and pretended we were rich anyway….
It was only later as a State Legislator that I was reminded of the power of the dairy lobby. Glad I ruined their marketing pitch…
Same here.. 1941, but with 2 older brothers. We made a game of it.. tossing it back and forth until it was mixed. We’d laugh and talk about everything under the sun, while mixing it. My mom would be preparing a meal or prepping for canning etc. I never felt poor, but I suppose we were. Living on a farm and growing some of our vegetables, having cows and chickens. But this is one enjoyable memory I have always had.
I Too would like a picture of the bag with colorpill. THANK you
I remember this oleo. My father would mix it. It must have been around 1950.
I remember this magic bag of oleo that my parents used to make into “butter:. I was fascinated watching it and sometimes I was allowed to do the mixing.
I vividly remember my grandmother squeezing bags of this stuff at the table around 1951. I had no understand of the political nonsense behind this. I certainly do today.
I also remember this as a child – I was very lucky because my mom was the best mom in the world – my sister was older and never really involved with anything that I can remember as a child growing up – so mom would let me squeeze the yellow button – I was so intrigued with it also – funny how time changes things and people – I have very fond memories of my childhood – thanks for these great pics
We had two cows and my Mother made real butter. It was very pale (almost white). She made lovely rounds of butter, making designs with a knife on top. Friends and neighbors loved them. We did squeeze bags of margarine just to try it. My brothers and sister wouldn’t eat it. Was a funny color.
Thanks Just told my daughter age 38 that a long time ago in a galaxy far away there was something called Olio Margarine. It had a Yellow Pill inside that magically turned the white margarine Yellow! I’m not Sure my daughter believes me…
I am requesting copyright permission to use a picture of the bag in my autobiography. I am 83 yo and wrote the autobiography for my step daughters and grandchildren. I’m including many images of things I grew up with but which they have never seen. My brothers and I used to color the margarine by tossing the bag to each other, until I missed it and it landed on top of the hot water radiator and split. Thank you for your help in sharing life during my life span with those who follow
I also remember tiny packets of coloring about the size of a sugar packet but almost flat. A little coloring went a long way. You had to mix it in a bowl, and for a kid it was work. The bag was much easier!
I remember this vividlly… I had to be 3 or younger. But that was my “job” and I loved pushing that little button on the plastic pouch and being in charge of squeezing the bag to equally distribute the coloring ! It was fun to me… later as I got older I realized that only rich people had butter ( we never ever had butter.. even on holidays) So, like Scarlet I Hara in “Gone with the Wind” I vowed never to have margarine when I grew up. The minute I left the household at 17 to take myself off to college it was butter for me !!! And 60 years later it’s the same … butter all the way ! Haha
Hi Christopher,
Thanks for commenting!
Randy
Does anyone or any place still sell it ? I would love to buy it. I think it could be marketed as a “KIDS DELIGHT”. It was always so much fun for me as a child from age 6 to 10. Online play is removing personal communications with our kids.
If a butter company would make that special butter over the Christmas holidays I would certainly buy their brand forever.
79 in Minnesota.
THis is so cool. If we want to reference to this, can we show the image or do we need rights to do that?
Hi Tina,
Thanks for commenting…
I also found another ad with the same illustration on Wikipedia…
So… the good news is, they say there that there are “no restrictions” copyright-wise and that it is now “public domain”—probably based on the copyrights having long expired.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cudahy_Packing_Company#/media/File:Delrich_E-Z_Color_Pak_Margarine,_1948.jpg