“Dye It Pink”: Puck’s Anti-Margarine Crusade

Abstract

“'Dye It Pink': Puck’s Anti-Margarine Crusade" examines the first decade of Puck’s response to the butter and margarine war, beginning with the publication’s inception in 1877 and ending with the Congressional passage of the Oleomargarine Act on July 23, 1886.  Puck magazine undertook a relentless satirical campaign against food adulteration, consistently critiquing what it called “Oilymargarine” both graphically and verbally. It popularized the mantra "dye it pink" to distinguish margarine from butter and so protect the innocent consumer from an unhealthy and unregulated product. The campaign included both serious columns and the tongue-in-cheek rants of "Mr. Ephraim Muggins"; a multitude of cartoons and other graphics; and innumerable verses, anecdotes, and puns. Its satirical stance, based on its political sympathy for the farmer, laborer, and consumer, was reinforced by its distaste for political corruption. Puck’s long-term crusade exemplifies its consolidation of political and social interests and its interwoven pictorial and verbal modus operandi.