JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (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.
There must have been a law like that in Indiana, too. During WWIII, my first childhood chore was to burst the yellow dye pack embedded in the (plastic?) margarine bag, then massage the whole thing into a uniformly yellow mass. After the war, it was ALL butter again ALL the way — plus the new roller skates, bikes, new cars, unlimited meat and sugar!!! that were once again available to civilians.
Correction — WWII. Thank God, #III hasn’t happened.