Dave Smith wrote:
> James Silverton wrote:
>> Hello All!
>>
>> I saw a recipe in r.f.recipes that called for oleo or butter. Am I
>> correct in saying that oleo means margerine? Perhaps ChattyCathy might
>> think it worthy of a survey.
>
> Apparently, oleo is margarine, but as far as I know is a term used only
> in the US. I have only heard one person actually use the word, and he
> owned a bar in Buffalo and said that he used Franks hot sauce and oleo
> for the Buffalo wings served in his bar.
>
Prior to the fifties oleo used to be the common word for oleomargarine
in the US. I remember being allowed to combine the dry yellow dye into
the white oleo bars Mom would buy at the store. Real butter was going to
the service people overseas and to the war effort as a "real" fat.

We did get the odd bit of butter when we visited my uncle's place in the
country.