The South and Butter

[robyn]

Is it just me, or did anyone else's grandparents call margerine Oleo?  And does anyone know why it was called that?

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The full name for margarine is oleomargarine. Robyn

[jhlurie]

Has the use of butter substitutes become a cultural change, where locals prefer them over real butter?

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And it would have to be regional, because at least in the Midwest and Northeast it's still my impression that more places send out butter than not (although, yeah, it's usually crap in little plastic packs).

BTW: oleomargarine is hardly "new fangled" as one person has said their family believed. It's been around since 1870.

[Cucina]

BTW: oleomargarine is hardly "new fangled" as one person has said their family believed. 

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Jeez - put down the butter knife! I never said it was "new fangled" - I just haven't heard anyone call it oleo since i was a small child. I proudly admit not to be an expert on margarine or oleomargarine. I just wanted to know if anyone else remembers calling it oleo and what the heck is the oleo anyway? After all, if they can lopp off the oleo and forget about it, maybe there's still hope that margarine will go by the wayside too?

[robyn]

Has the use of butter substitutes become a cultural change, where locals prefer them over real butter?

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And it would have to be regional, because at least in the Midwest and Northeast it's still my impression that more places send out butter than not (although, yeah, it's usually crap in little plastic packs).

BTW: oleomargarine is hardly "new fangled" as one person has said their family believed. It's been around since 1870.

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My recollection (not personal - from reading) is that margarine became more popular in general during WWII as a result of butter rationing. My husband said his family - a "butter" family from the northeast - used margarine during WWII and for a while after. Then came the health claims of the 50's - etc.

My family - as well as a lot of other Jewish families - used margarine to keep Kosher - or a semblance of Kosher. Robyn

[Varmint]

Interestingly, the dairy industry worked hard to get the federal government to enact anticompetitive legislation to protect the butter industry. Specifically, taxes were imposed on oleomargarine under the guise that it was less healthy than butter and when mixed with the yellow dye that made it look like butter, represented a misleading product. Of course, the constitutionality of the federal government taking such protectionary measures was highly questionable, and with the shortage of butter during WWII, the margarine tax was repealed. Thus, it became a cheaper alternative.

[Toliver]

Thanks, Dean. That makes perfect sense. That and the fact that oleo doesn't have to be refrigerated made it extremely popular (interesting marketing angle to see it in the dairy case next to real butter even though it won't perish if it's at room temperature).

To this day, my mom stills writes "oleo" on her shopping list when she needs more margarine. It's an economy of motion, I guess, so she doesn't have to write out the longer word.

And for crossword puzzle fans out there, "oleo" is still popular to use in puzzles due to its three vowels and one consonant.

[Holly Moore]

And for crossword puzzle fans out there, "oleo" is still popular to use in puzzles due to its three vowels and one consonant.

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Though not as popular as "a dunkable treat" Oreo.