Next time you swing by our General Store, you might spot a curious little box labeled “Butter Color.” Strange, right? Today, you’d never see such a thing in a grocery aisle. Back in the day, though, this little dye was a hot commodity, promising to give butter that golden glow “naturally produced when cows are fed on June grass.”
But why did the color of butter matter so much? Because for nearly 75 years, America fought a food feud now known as the Butter Wars.
Margarine vs. Butter
Margarine was invented in France in 1869, and by the 1870s it had made its way to the United States. Dairy farmers were horrified. Margarine was cheaper, lasted longer, and—thanks to some clever use of dyes—looked a lot like butter. By the 1880s, it was catching on fast, which meant one thing: Big Butter went to war.
State after state passed laws to slow down margarine. Pennsylvania banned it outright. Others taxed it heavily. And in one of history’s weirder twists, some states forced margarine to be dyed bright pink so no one could possibly mistake it for butter.
In 1886, the United States Congress joined in by passing the Oleomargarine Act, slapping a federal tax on margarine. By 1902, yellow-colored margarine was taxed so high it was practically a luxury item. The plain white stuff, however, remained cheap—so companies got sneaky. Many sold margarine with little packets of yellow dye inside. Families could knead the dye into the margarine at home.
Better Butter Color
Oddly enough, the fight over margarine also changed butter itself. Naturally, butter varies in color depending on what cows eat—more yellow in summer, paler in winter. But once “yellow” became the gold standard, creameries started adding their own dyes to keep butter looking consistently golden year-round. In other words, as some politicians argued during the debates preceding the passage of the Oleomargarine Act, butter ended up becoming almost as artificial as its rival.
Even small towns weren’t immune from the butter wars. In 1900, right here in Sugartown, a local paper advertised a meeting at the grammar school with a speaker, Luther S. Kauffman, from the Pure Butter Association. The meeting was to promote a newly formed Fusion Party, a political party that was formed out of both former Democrats and Republicans. Their topic of discussion that evening, that they felt would be the most important issue of the next election? Butter. The new party was proudly pro-butter and anti-margarine. Dozens of voters were expected. Only about a dozen showed up. (Turns out butter politics weren’t exactly electrifying the Sugartown voters.)
Our Butter Color box was for a product produced by Wells, Richardson and Company. Based in Burlington, Vermont, the company started as a medicine or drug company, but over the years they expanded their products to include lines of dyes. They began to produce their Butter Color in 1877. Most of their advertising was aimed at creameries, and encouraged the use of their Butter Color to ensure that butters had a similar color year round. But could you use it in margarine? Probably!
Neither Side Wins
The Butter Wars dragged on until 1950, when Congress finally repealed the Oleomargarine Act. A few states clung to anti-margarine laws a little longer, but eventually even those melted away. By then, margarine had carved out its own space on the American table, right alongside butter.
So the next time you butter your toast—or spread on margarine—remember: you’re taking part in a culinary cold war that once turned kitchens, courtrooms, and even small-town schoolhouses into battlegrounds.
For more information on the Butter Wars, try these links!
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/the-butter-wars-when-margarine-was-pink
Very enjoyable, well written fun fact story.