Yes, I'm old enough to remember pink pistachios in the US!

The average US level of food sophistication was thought (probably correctly) to be too low to eat a green nut. It's the same reason hot dogs are dyed to a 'pleasing' color instead of being left in their natural brown/grey state.

Back when pistachios were dyed pink, you certainly could not have found fish sauce, lemongrass, sriracha, etc. in my local supermarket, but they're there today, along with vacuum-packed pre-cooked Indian meals, etc., etc. Fifteen years ago, most Americans had no idea what a Chipotle chile was, but today there's a major food chain named 'Chipotle.' At some point in our culinary awakening, the powers that be decided we could deal with green nuts, so they stopped coloring them pink.