When leafing through my grandmother’s yellowed recipe cards recently, I kept encountering an ingredient called “Oleo.” This mysterious ingredient appeared in everything from cookie recipes to savory dishes. If you’ve ever wondered “what is Oleo in old recipes?” you’re not alone. Oleo is simply an old term for margarine that was commonly used in recipes from the 1930s through the 1970s. Today I’ll explain everything you need to know about this classic ingredient and what to substitute when you find it in vintage recipes.
Table of Contents
Quick Facts About Oleo
- Modern Substitute: Butter or modern margarine
- What Is It: An outdated term for margarine
- Origin: Derived from “oleomargarine”
- Common In: Recipes from 1930s-1970s
What Exactly Is Oleo?
Oleo is an abbreviated term for oleomargarine, which was the original name for margarine. This butter substitute was first created in 1869 by French chemist Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès during the Franco-Prussian wars. He developed this product in response to a competition sponsored by Napoleon III’s government, which was seeking a cheap and stable butter alternative during wartime shortages.
Early oleomargarine was made primarily from beef fat (tallow) mixed with milk and salt. This creation earned Mège-Mouriès a significant prize from the French government and ultimately led to the global spread of margarine.
The Fascinating History of Oleo
Original White Appearance
One of the most interesting aspects of early Oleo was its appearance. Unlike the yellow margarine we know today, original Oleo was white – nothing like the butter it was meant to replace. Manufacturers included a small capsule of yellow food coloring that homemakers could mix in if they wanted their margarine to resemble butter.
Why was Oleo white? This wasn’t a manufacturing limitation but rather a legal requirement resulting from the fierce battle between the dairy and margarine industries.
The Butter vs. Oleo War
The dairy industry viewed Oleo as a direct threat to their business and lobbied extensively for restrictions. Their efforts resulted in remarkable legislation across the United States:
- Wisconsin (the “Dairy State”) and six other states made margarine completely illegal
- Three states required margarine to be dyed pink to distinguish it from butter
- Federal taxes were imposed specifically on colored margarine
- Many states prohibited margarine from being colored yellow
These restrictions remained in place for decades, with the last color ban not being repealed until the 1960s. Home cooks often had to mix in the yellow coloring themselves to avoid the taxes and restrictions on pre-colored margarine.
Evolution of Ingredients
While early Oleo was made from animal fats, manufacturers eventually shifted to using vegetable oils:
- 1930s-1950s: Transition to cottonseed and soybean oils
- 1950s-1970s: Further refinement with partially hydrogenated oils
- 1980s-Present: Reformulations to address health concerns about trans fats
How to Substitute for Oleo in Old Recipes
- When you encounter Oleo in vintage recipes, you have several options for substitution:
- Oil: In some baking recipes, an equivalent amount of vegetable oil works
- Butter: The most direct replacement with a richer flavor
- Modern Margarine: For a closer match to the original recipe
- Plant-Based Butters: For dairy-free versions of classic recipes
What’s the Difference Between Oleo and Butter?
The main differences between Oleo (margarine) and butter are:
- Source: Butter comes from dairy cream, while Oleo is made from vegetable oils
- Fat Content: Butter contains at least 80% butterfat, while margarine has a similar fat percentage but from plant sources
- Flavor: Butter has a richer, more distinctive flavor
- Melting Point: Butter melts at a lower temperature than most margarines
- Health Profile: Butter contains saturated fats and cholesterol, while modern margarines vary significantly in their nutritional profiles
Tips for Using Vintage Recipes with Oleo
When working with older recipes that call for Oleo, consider these tips:
- If the recipe is from before the 1950s, it was likely developed with a different texture and flavor profile than modern margarine
- Baked goods made with butter instead of Oleo may brown more quickly
- Butter will impart a richer flavor that may alter the original taste slightly
- Reduce salt slightly if switching to salted butter in a recipe calling for Oleo
The Legacy of Oleo in American Cooking
Oleo represents a fascinating chapter in American culinary and economic history. Its popularity peaked during the mid-20th century, when convenience foods were widely adopted and the nutritional understanding of different fats was not yet well established.
Today, Oleo primarily lives on in vintage recipes and as an occasional crossword puzzle answer. While margarine is still available, many cooks have returned to butter for its flavor.
Continue Reading Those Old Recipes
So, the next time you read an old recipe and see an ingredient called Oleo, you won’t have to wonder what it is anymore. You’ll know that Oleo is just an old word for margarine and you can swap it out for butter.
Of course, your kids will miss out on the fun of adding in the yellow coloring!
Recipe Recommendations: Classic Recipes That Called for Oleo
Looking to try some vintage recipes that originally used Oleo? Here are some classics where you can substitute butter or modern margarine:
today margerine oil content ranges from 53% or lower and some as high as 80%, any idea what % the oleo would be more similar too? i’ve noticed some recipes actually call for margine with a certain % or higher oil and i wasn’t sure which one to use for recipes with oleo? thanks
Not sure, but I do know that in my baking and candy making these days, I have switched to using butter. Margarine seems to be really watery in the past few years and for candy – it never ‘sets up’!
Oleo reminds me of the gasoline that was called ethyl. I do remember it being called oleo, but I am old…
Thanks for the help! I recently got a bunch of my grandma’s old cookbooks and wanted to try some recipes out but wasn’t sure if oleo was margarine or shortening! Thanks
Glad I could be of service!
Amazing how far we have come, huh? I had the honour/honor of being the chosen one elected to blend a bag or 10 of Good Luck only a few times….and have often wondered where that brand went. In musing over the stories written here this a.m., I would offer here that Imperial Margerine just “might be” Good Luck in disguise? From what my fading memory provides me with,..(65-past here)..I would suggest that because I seem to recall that Good Luck & Imperial both have the “same colored/coloured” packaging?
Ofcourse, I have my grandmothers old recipe book with loads of recipes mentioning Oleo. That’s funny. There are so many trademark names that have become the calling name for a certain type of product. Should have quessed.
Thanks. 🙂
Why would you need it to be yellow anyway? Homemade butter is white, not yellow. Thanks, though, I’ve been wondering a long time what exactly oleo was–I was beginning to think it was shortening, so at least I was close!
I believe the theory was, if it was yellow it would look more like butter.
It is what they call margarine now.
When I was young that is what it was called, however it was white and you had to mix it the yellow coloring that was in the package.
Marcia
This made me fell really old because I didn’t have to look to know what oleo was
We are old Sam!
Awww, this post took me back to when I would always hear my great-grandma say “oleo”. As a little girl I remember asking my mom what it was and “butter” has always stuck in my head but I really enjoyed reading the reasoning behind it. Thanks for bringing back a lot of memories!!!
When I saw this post, It made me think of my Mother. Her name was Olis and everyone in her family called her Oleo. I just recall in the early 70’s when the commercials came out it’s Butter no its margarine, My Brother and I started calling her Butter.
That just got us grounded. I still write it down on my list as Oleo. Yes, when my husband & I first got married he was confused. Those dye packs were fun to mix, but if you got it on your hands they would be yellow for day’s.
I grew up in Wisconsin on the WI/IL border. At that time (the 50s) margarine was not allowed to be sold in WI so my mom and her girlfriends would take turns crossing the border to IL to bring home the margarine. Then they would gather at one house and split it up between them. Resourceful housewives those of the 50s.
I was so glad to see Deborah’s response. I lived in Milwaukee from 1979 to 1981 and was amazed when people told me that margarine was once illegal to be sold in Wisconsin, the dairy state. I’ve told people this story many, many times over the years.
Oleo was the brand name of the margarine. My mother still calls it Oleo. We use butter at our house. 🙂
Oleo is margarine. Use the solid stick margarine in recipes. Soft spread has water and air in it and will not meaasure right. I prefer Crisco butter flavored shortening sticks. It makes better cookies. You can also substitute real butter. We used oleo margarine as a kid, too (the bag witht the colored capsule.) I believe it came out during WW2 because of all the shortages and economy.
What I remember most about Oleo is the taste. I did NOT like the taste. To me, it had a fishy oil taste that I remember well. Nothing at all like butter tasted or what margarine now taste like. My grandma would use it much of the time when I was a child.
Does GoodLuck oleomargarine ring a bell? It’s what we always used growing up.
On the other hand, my grandpa & grandma ran a farm & used real butter. We called it the “udder butter,” not even getting our own connection with the real thing 🙂
Thank god I stumbled upon this post! I have scanned in tons of my grandmothers old recipes and run across Oleo quite a few times. Now I know! Thanks.
I am allergic to whole milk and milk products, which includes butter; therefore, I’ve had to use oleo. Now days you can get oleo w/o trans fat and other stuff. The butter fat is what I can’t have.
My parents called it “oleo” and we never had butter in our house, even for baking. My niece (who was 6 yrs younger than I am) called it “Grandma’s plastic butter.” When I went to someone’s house and they had butter, it was such an exotic luxury.
Oleo is margarine-When it first came out, iIt was called oleo-margarine when I was a kid and came white with a little yellow dye capsule that you kneaded into the white to make it yellow. Had something to do with not being real butter.
It came with the separate dye because it was not legal to sell yellow margarine; if you wanted it to look like butter, you had to mix it in yourself.
I’ve got a bunch of cookie recipes from my Italian grandmother that call for Oleo – they’re hilarious to read and fun to piece together as you try to figure out how to make the things.
And man, does that food coloring capsule sound disgusting.