Margarine in its natural state is white and looks exactly like lard. In the 1880s, manufacturers started adding the characteristic yellow hue to make it appear far more palatable and resemble butter.
For some reason, the dairy industry in Wisconsin and some other locales did not approve of this development and convinced the legislature to adopt laws banning the sale of yellow margarine. The margarine companies thereafter included a yellow dye packet with each tub of margarine sold, and the consumer was responsible for stirring in the dye. Depending on how thoroughly the color was stirred, the resulting margarine could be light yellow, dark yellow, or even striped. My mother, who was raised in Wisconsin, had the job when she was a young girl of mixing the family margarine, and she indicated that she was less than thrilled about the whole process.
In 1951, the margarine companies developed a plastic package where the dye packet would automatically be split open when the top of the margarine container was removed; however, the dye would still have to be stirred in. Finally, in 1955, Wisconsin gave up on protecting its citizens from margarine which did not resemble lard and allowed the dye to be mixed into the product at the factory, just like Mother Nature intended.
Oh, by the way, the people in the above photograph are not rubbing margarine on the bird to prepare it for their dinner. They work for the RSPCA West Hatch Centre in Taunton, England, and they are using the fat to remove an unknown pollutant from a contaminated waterfowl. If you look at the scars on the wrist of the handler on the left, you may understand why the rescuers have put a sheath on the bird's beak.
Thanks for an extremely interesting and entertaining post.
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