Margarine

[Stefan Diös]

Ah, good ol' David G. at Egmont clearing everything up for us! I was hoping 
you would, since you are so close to the margarine... or at least its 
source! David's account confirms what I always thought had happened, 
although I didn't know the exact time and names of the people involved. 
Also, I didn't realize until some years ago that Scandinavian translations 
were so dependent of each other. I used to believe that the margarine was a 
pure Swedish invention. (Hmm, at least the Duckburg margarine.)

Thank you, David!

Let me add that this issue is discussed on the Swedish Donaldist mailing 
list as well. People have remarked that they do find the word "margarine" 
somewhat funny, especially in conjunction with a factory, even if the 
actual product isn't very exciting. I also like Halsten Aastebol's point 
(made recently on this list) that the idea of a factory specializing on 
just this one type of product can be funny in itself.

Let me also relate a very interesting post from the Swedish list by Lars 
Petrus, who reminds us that many people were suspicious when margarine 
first was introduced some 50 years ago. It was regarded somewhat unnatural, 
maybe like some people think today of food that has been manipulated 
genetically. Lars says that margarine even had to be colored blue in 
Sweden, lest some unsuspecting customer might confuse it with real butter! 
This is something I've never heard before, and I'll agree with Lars that it 
might have added some comedy to the mentioning of the substance in 1955.


Stefan Dios
Malmo, Sweden