Coloring
Cudahy Margarine
Is “E-Z”
 

“The sensational new Delrich E-Z Color Pak Margarine
ends mixing bowl mess.”
                                                                                                 --- Bob Martin                             

 

Lincoln, Me. (DG)—

Delrich If you’re a sports fan, you’re most likely aware of bitter rivalries between 2 teams or individuals.  During radio’s golden age, there was a nasty rivalry that made the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry look like a gathering among friends.  The bitter rivals I’m referring to are butter and margarine.

During the 1930’s and 1940’s, there was no love lost between the companies who sold butter and the companies who sold margarine.  There were numerous political issues and controversy surrounding the butter/margarine feud.  Since I’m neutral on this matter, I won’t go into detail about what both sides tried to do to each other and how it affected the consumer.  What I will talk about, however, concerns how butter and margarine were sold in grocery stores during this time. 

Butter was sold in its familiar golden yellow color, while margarine was sold in white.  With the legalities of that time, margarine wasn’t permitted to look like butter--- meaning, no golden yellow color.  If the housewife insisted on margarine, she bought it in its white content.  Once she took the margarine home, the housewife plunked the contents from the margarine box into a mixing bowl, added yellow food coloring, and stirred it together.  The margarine was golden yellow, but it was also messy work in making it that way.  The hassle and mess of coloring margarine was wonderful news for the butter companies.  However, that smug feeling ended in 1947. 

The Cudahy Packing Company, the same outfit who made the famous Old Dutch Cleanser, came up with a clever and foolproof method of coloring its Delrich Margarine.  The listeners heard announcer Bob Martin talk about it on Mutual’s NICK CARTER, MASTER DETECTIVE program.  If you’re wondering, this clever method was known as the “E-Z Color Pak.”

In every box of Delrich was a plastic bag that contained the white margarine.  Sharing the bag with the margarine was a small orange berry containing the food coloring.  Once the bag was removed from the carton, the housewife began by pinching the orange berry until the food coloring was flowing.  When this was done, the housewife gently kneaded the bag.  While this was being done, the white margarine was quickly converted into golden yellow margarine without streaking and uneven coloring.  When the coloring was completed, the housewife placed the bag back into the Delrich carton.  Finally, the carton was put into the refrigerator or icebox to chill.  After it had an opportunity to chill, golden yellow Delrich was ready to use or serve.

Delrich’s E-Z Color Pak was simple to color; didn’t take much time; and didn’t need a mixing bowl.  The plastic bag also protected the margarine from dust, dirt, and other unpleasant forms of gunk in the air.  It kept the bad stuff out, while sealing in the fresh, sweet taste that made Delrich a popular brand with the whole family.

Eventually, the restrictions concerning margarine were lessened in some states.  The housewife could buy Delrich and other margarine brands with a golden yellow color.  For those states where nothing had changed, they could still buy Delrich with its E-Z Color Pack. 

The creation of the Delrich E-Z Color Pak wasn’t very good news for the butter companies--- and there wasn’t much they could do about it.  The Cudahy Packing Company successfully got around the coloring of margarine without the mess and hassle.  To make matters worse for the butter companies, it was Delrich, “America’s Finest Margarine.” 

In conclusion, the Cudahy Packing Company proved “when there’s a will, there’s a way.”  It proved very successful not only for Delrich, but for margarine in general.