The Fading Light of a Time of Heroes

NanikRN · Apr 30, 2016

Another well written (IMHO) article that I would like to share:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/fading-light-time-heroes-louis-m-profeta-md?trk=eml-b2_content_ecosystem_digest-recommended_articles-73-null&midToken=AQG6f8jvGuj82g&fromEmail=fromEmail&ut=2AmnOmbqExPnc1

I once had a British lady that threw a fit over the fact that we had margarine not real butter in the hospital i thought she had the entitlement thing going on until I actually asked questions and listened.

She was in London during the blitz as a child. The stories she told me--

During the war they had this nasty glob of stuff you added coloring & flavoring to make margarine. Prob nothing like we have today.

She swore when she survived the war she would never eat margarine again. And she hadn't. She didn't that day either-- I found her real butter.

Loved the article-- thanks for sharing

Dusty Trail · Apr 30, 2016

I once had a British lady that threw a fit over the fact that we had margarine not real butter in the hospital i thought she had the entitlement thing going on until I actually asked questions and listened.
She was in London during the blitz as a child. The stories she told me--
During the war they had this nasty glob of stuff you added coloring & flavoring to make margarine. Prob nothing like we have today.

A little bit of margarine history courtesy of Wikipedia:

While butter that cows produced had a slightly yellow color, margarine had a white color, making the margarine look more like lard. Many people found it to look unappetizing. Around the late 1880s the manufacturers decided to dye the margarine yellow, so it would sell more. Dairy firms, especially in Wisconsin, became alarmed and succeeded in getting legislation passed to prohibit the coloring of the stark white product. In response, the margarine companies distributed the margarine together with a packet of yellow dye. The product was placed in a bowl and the dye mixed in with a spoon. This took some time and effort and it was not unusual for the final product to be served as a light and dark yellow, or even white, striped product. During World War II, there was a shortage of butter in the United States and "oleomargarine" became popular. In 1951 the W. E. Dennison Company received U.S. Patent 2,553,513 for a method to place a capsule of yellow dye inside a plastic package of margarine. After purchase, the capsule was broken inside the package and then the package was kneaded to distribute the dye. Around 1955, the artificial coloring laws were repealed and margarine could for the first time be sold colored like butter.