My family moved to Washington in 1952, from California. My mom's big complaint was not being able to buy butter because it cost so much more than margarine and we didn't have lots of money to spend. So, she wanted to buy margarine but couldn't buy any that looked like butter. It looked like a wad or brick of white Crisco. She couldn't bring herself to put the crisco-like spread on toast or waffles, but she was more angry when she had to put a softened wad into a bowl, add some yellow powder, and mix it up with a big wooden spoon. I remember being appalled my mom had to do such a thing. My brother and I had one of our thoughts of such confusing, unexplainable things, a "what the ding?"
Margarine was created to compete against expensive butter in the 19th Century, first up in New York and New Jersey. Wisconsin (the dairy land state), and neighbor Minnesota had laws against colored margarine. After World War II, the margarine lobby gained more power across the US, selling it as being more heart healthy since it had less fat. But, some states, like Washington, had a powerful dairy lobby that had restrictions on margarine by making it illegal to sell it looking like butter.
In the 1950s, margarine taxes and restrictions became the talk of the country. A significant effort by the National Association of Margarine Manufacturers had President Truman sign the Margarine Act. In 1951, the federal margarine tax system ended, so the consumption of margarine doubled into the 70s. But, some states, like Washington, had color bans, taxes, licenses and other restrictions. Washington's didn't fall until later in the 50s. It sure made my mom happy. She was a butter-lover. My brother, Greg, and I were happier, too, because "Bob"* was happier.
*Bob: Brother Greg, who was good at creating names and words, even though he was 5 years younger than I, came up with a nickname for our mom that stuck with her, at her acceptance to the day she died. He said if we had a bad cold that stuffed our nose, we couldn't say "mom", only "bob".