The Modern Day “Oleo Runners”
Once upon a time - actually for the better part of the 20th Century - the State of Wisconsin banned the sale (not the "use of" mind you) of "oleomargarine or yellow margarine." In fact, much of the upper Midwest outright banned 'yellow margarine' at the behest of powerful dairy interests who feared the production and sale of the butter alternative would kill the state's dairy industry. Wisconsin became the last state to remove its "Oleo Ban" in 1967; before then, from 1895 to 1967, any Wisconsinite looking for margarine got in their horse and buggy (later their car) and would head down US-41 (now I-43) to buy as many cases of yellow margarine as they could fit in the trunk to tie them off until their next run.
Bob Uecker, "Mr. Baseball" himself, mentions an "Oleo Run" in his comedy routine about his birth.
I was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Actually, I was born in Illinois. My mother and father were on an oleo margarine run to Chicago back in 1934, because we couldn't get colored margarine in Wisconsin. On the way home, my mother was with child. Me. And the pains started, and my dad pulled off into an exit area, and that's where the event took place. I remember it was a Nativity type setting. An exit light shining down. There were three truck drivers there. One guy was carrying butter, one guy had frankfurters, and the other guy was a retired baseball scout who told my folks that I probably had a chance to play somewhere down the line.
If you're not a native Wisconsinite, the Wisconsin State Historical Society has a great piece on "The Oleo Wars" you have to read to believe some of the dumbest set of laws the Badger State ever put on the books. In fact, some are still with us.
The most well-known are 97.18(4) and 97.18(5)
Here's 97.18(4):
The serving of colored oleomargarine or margarine at a public eating place as a substitute for table butter is prohibited unless it is ordered by the customer.
And here's 97.18(5):
The serving of oleomargarine or margarine to students, patients or inmates of any state institutions as a substitute for table butter is prohibited, except that such substitution may be ordered by the institution superintendent when necessary for the health of a specific patient or inmate, if directed by the physician in charge of the patient or inmate.
Yes, 97.18(4) says as a restaurant owner in Wisconsin, you can only have butter on the table when people sit down. If they want margarine, they have to specifically ask for it. 97.18(5) states it is illegal to serve prisoner in Wisconsin prisons anything but butter unless there's a reason the warden or prison doctor gives you the okay to have it. Laws, passed under the urging of a special interest, often leads to the craziest of scenarios.
Take what's happening now in parts of Washington State, where at the urging of environmental lobbyists, have banned the use of detergents with phoshates in them. This has made popular brands of dish-washing detergent like "Electrosal" and "Cascade," illegal contraband in the eyes of the authorities in and around Spokane.
The quest for squeaky-clean dishes has turned some law-abiding people in Spokane into dishwater-detergent smugglers.
They are bringing Cascade or Electrasol in from out of state because the eco-friendly varieties required under Washington state law don't work as well.
Spokane County became the launch pad last July for the nation's strictest ban on dishwasher detergent made with phosphates, a measure aimed at reducing water pollution. The ban will be expanded statewide in July 2010, the same time similar laws take effect in several other states.
But it's not easy to get sparkling dishes when you go green.
Many people were shocked to find that products like Seventh Generation, Ecover and Trader Joe's left their dishes encrusted with food, smeared with grease and too gross to use without rewashing them by hand. The culprit was hard water, which is mineral-rich and resistant to soap.
As a result, there has been a quiet rush of Spokane-area shoppers heading east on Interstate 90 into Idaho in search of old-school suds.
Real estate agent Patti Marcotte of Spokane stocks up on detergent at a Costco in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and doesn't care who knows it.
"Yes, I am a smuggler," she said. "I'm taking my chances because dirty dishes I cannot live with."
(In truth, the ban applies to the sale of phosphate detergent - not its use or possession - so Marcotte is not in any legal trouble.)
Marcotte said she tried every green brand in her dishwasher and found none would remove grease and pieces of food. Everybody she knows buys dishwasher detergent in Idaho, she said.
Supporters of the ban acknowledge it is not very popular.
"I'm not hearing a lot of positive feedback," conceded Shannon Brattebo of the Washington Lake Protection Association, a prime mover of the ban. "I think people are driving to Idaho."
Steve Marcy, manager of the Costco in Coeur d'Alene, about 10 miles east of the Washington state line, estimated that sales of dishwasher detergent in his store have increased 10 percent. He knows where the customers are coming from.
"I'll joke with them and ask if they are from Spokane," Marcy said. "They say, 'Oh yeah.'"
So godspeed you detergent runners. We who have ties to Wisconsin salute you and the idiocy of your state legislature. May the states of Oregon and Idaho be the benefactors of their actions.
