Bootleg margarine and farmer protests: A look back at Wisconsin's 'oleo wars'
Oleo, commonly known as margarine, has a long and controversial history in Wisconsin. It only became legal to buy yellow oleo in the dairy state on July 1, 1967, after years of contention.
The controversy started in 1895, when the state Legislature first passed a law forbidding the manufacture or sale of butter-colored oleo. Dairy advocates didn't want oleo to compete with butter by looking more like it, but it remained legal to sell the naturally pale white oleo.Â
Yellow belongs to butter
A reprint from the pages of "Hoard's Dairyman" magazine issued to influence public opinion in Wisconsin where the sale of colored margarine was prohibited by law.
State line trips for yellow oleo, 1960s
A car with Wisconsin license plates parks just across the state line in Illinois at one of many dealers offering colored oleomargarine at bargain prices. Yellow oleo was illegal in Wisconsin for more than two decades until repeal of the ban in 1967.
'Oleomargarine sold here,' 1911
Interior view of a Rhinelander butcher shop, with a butcher sharpening a knife behind a counter lined with cuts of meat, sausages and a scale. Behind the counter on a wood cabinet is a sign reading "Oleomargarine Sold Here" and a 1911 oleo tax stamp.
Oleo sign in 1905
Butcher Phil Hof stands with a large knife behind a table covered with meat at a Boscobel butcher shop in 1905, while Sam and Herman Hof stand weigh cuts of meat. There is a sign declaring "Oleomargarine Sold Here," along with an oleo tax stamp on the wall.
April 15, 1915: Oleomargarine and the Law
Jan 19, 1925: Oleo Will Cause Battle in Session
Feb. 25, 1931: Drastic Oleo Tax Measure Set to Pass
'Repeal oleo tax,' 1940
An airplane pulls a banner reading "Heil says repeal oleo tax" over the Wisconsin State Fair on Governor's Day on Aug. 21, 1940.
Sen. Gordon W. Roseleip fails taste test, 1965
State Sen. Gordon Roseleip, an oleo critic, famously failed to distinguish butter from margarine in a blind taste test on June 24, 1965.
Oleo newspaper clipping, 1965
This story details how state Sen. Gordon Roseleip, an oleo critic, fared in the taste test.
Knowles signs law in yellow ink, 1967
Gov. Warren Knowles signs into law a bill repealing the state's long-imposed ban on the sale of colored oleo. Oleo supporters are shown gathered around the seated chief executive as he displays the new law, signed with yellow ink, on May 24, 1967.
May 29, 1967: Oleo 'Deed' Done Without Dignity
June 29, 1967: Hide Your Margarine Until Sunday, Ladies
July 1, 1967: Colored Oleo Goes on Sale Here Today
July 2, 1967: Wonder Where the Yellow Went? Why, It Went on Sale
July 3, 1967: Housewives Will Have to Choose From 50 Oleomargarine Brands
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