Congressman L. Mendel Rivers, Landmark Lodge 76, Charleston, SC, abhorred the tax on oleomargarine which congress passed under pressure from the dairy lobby to make margarine uncompetitive with butter. He campaigned so hard to have the tax repealed that he earned his trademark nickname, "Oleo" Rivers.
At one time, it was even illegal to sell yellow-colored margarine in the US since the substance in its natural white form was thought unappetizing. When the supreme court struck down that law in 1898, the dairy industry lobbied for heavier taxes. The final restrictions on margarine were not lifted in the individual states until 1967, when Wisconsin ("The Dairy State") eliminated them.
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