Pribek

Butter or margarine?

I’m a butter man myself. I don’t eat much of either but, if I’m making some popcorn I’m putting butter on it. It tastes better.

I remember hearing my parents talk about growing up during the depression when they would buy a bag of “oleo” that was whitish in color. There was a color capsule in the bag that they would break and knead through the stuff, turning it a more appetizing yellow color.

Ther were many states, especially dairy producing states, that had restrictions on margarine. In Missouri, one law banned the sale of yellow margarine. Nobody ever repealed the law. From Breitbart/AP.

A state legislator wants to dump a 19th-century law banning the sale of yellow margarine, though it’s been years since any violator was ordered to spread ‘em.

Rep. Sara Lampe said Tuesday she plans to file legislation repealing the law when the 2009 legislative session starts in January.

Most of Missouri’s restrictions on imitation butter date to 1895, and they were last amended in 1939. Although the state no longer enforces them, the penalties could still make dealers in contraband dairy product toast: up to a month in jail and a $100 fine for first-time offenders and six months in jail and a $500 fine for repeat offenders.

So, to all of you who have lectured me for my popcorn or cast a disapproving glance when spying a stick of butter in the fridge over the years or, debated me over the health benefits of consuming margarine, I would just like to say, you have been eating contraband and you are law breakers.