The 1940’s – Aunt Jemima Pancakes

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 Forget about World War II and all of it’s propaganda, IT’S TIME FOR SOME PANCAKES! If you love breakfast food, especially fast and easily made breakfast food that also tastes delicious, then undoubtedly you have heard about Aunt Jemima’s famous pancake mix at one point or another.

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Growing up in my home town of Greenfield WI, ALL of the pancakes that I ever ate at home were courtesy of the tag team duo that was made of my Mother and Aunt Jemima thanks to the fast, easy, and fresh recipe.  I remember looking at her little picture on the box and always wondering WHO Aunt Jemima really was. I also was not raised under conditions of viewing races differently, so I never thought anything to the fact that an African American woman was the brands trademark. As it turns out, Aunt Jemima herself…..is not actually “A” herself at all, but many different women throughout history! And this brand has more deeply rooted origins of racism than I ever could have imagined.

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 In this post I will briefly cover bits of Aunt Jemima’s history up until the end of the 40’s, and then delve into the blanted issues of race present throughout these specific 1940’s advertisements.

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History:
“Aunt Jemima” is the brands name itself. This brand was created in 1889 by 2 white men, Charles Rutt and Charles Underwood, who’s inspiration for the brand was based off of an old vaudeville song called “Old Aunt Jemima” written by Billy Kersands. “Aunt Jemima” was also a character featured in many minstrel shows in the late 19th century and was particularly associated with this song. The depiction of Aunt Jemima was based off of the common stereotype of the “Mammy” character that appeared in minstrel shows in the late 1800’s. She was a large and very dark skinned woman, with a pearly white smile that wore a red bandana and apron. This character then became “the look and face” of the brand before the company was then sold to R.T Davis in 1890 (1). R.T Davis then combined this vaudeville tune with the “Aunt Jemima” character to launch the brand of the worlds first ready to make pancake mix (2).

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The world 1st saw Nancy Green, a former slave, as “Aunt Jemima” herself at the World Columbia Exhibition in 1893. (2) Nancy Green was a master story teller, cook, and missionary worker (3) and people loved her warm personality and friendly demeanor, as well as her cooking. There were so many people interested in the Aunt Jemima exhibit, police were called for crowd control. Green served pancakes to thousands of people and was given an award for showmanship at the expo. As a result of her dedication, Aunt Jemima Received 50,000 orders for pancake mix. Not only did flour sales soar, but Green received a lifetime contract as the companies primary spokesperson. She was a living legend until she tragically passed away in a car accident in 1923.(2)

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After Nancy Green’s death, R.T Davis experienced tremendous financial issues and sold the brand to Quaker Oats 2 years later. (2) No one portrayed Aunt Jemima for 10 years following the death of Nancy.

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 Then In 1933, Anna Robinson made her debut as Aunt Jemima at the Chicago Century of Progress Exposition (4). Anna Robinson is the Aunt Jemima you see in these 1940’s ads, and she will forever be remembered as one of the most iconic faces in advertising for her time. An entire campaign was devised around her alone and she became THE painted portrait on the packaging of the mix durring her time. (4). She also had personal appearances and posed with Hollywood celebrities in some of the most famous places in the country (4) which was basically unheard of for any African American to be able to do in this era. This African American woman used her opportunities within the brand to make enough money to fully support all of her children and then bought a 22 room house in which she rented out rooms to boarders. (3) She was the wealthiest African American in the entire country during her time. Even when singer and actress Edith Wilson became the “New Face” of Aunt Jemima in 1948 (5), Anna Robinson remained on the companies payroll until her death in 1951 (4).

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Anna Robinson as Aunt Jemima
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Check out this 1940’s radio ad featuring the voice of Anna Robinson Here:
Aunt Jemima Pancakes Radio Ad 1940s WW II Radio Spot

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Severe Racial Concerns Present In These Ad’s:

It is without a doubt that “Aunt Jemima” as a brand has capitalized on the “Mammy” figure, making a “model” for black women through its advertisement of pancake mix during this era. This specific ad titled “How Aunt Jemima Makes Another Couple Happy”, perfectly captures the “true” characteristics of the mammy character; the ad’s tone alludes to how Aunt Jemima resembles “the help” and how she can make someone else’s day better.

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Aunt Jemima metaphorically “carries out her tasks” and “serves whites” through her pancake mixtures as well. The subservience of the character is quite obvious throughout the diction of the image. This ad even takes it a step further and has a white woman saying to Aunt Jemima that with a box of Aunt Jemima’s ready-mix in her kitchen, “it’s like having Aunt Jemima there in person”. This ad places the black woman back in the kitchens of white households raising their families.

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The primary and different alternative used across other ads however is focused more on the southern dialect of African Americans during this time in attempts to attack their lack of education throughout the 40’s. Aunt Jemima is pictured in the images saying phrases like “Lawsee! Folks sho’ cheer for fluffy, energizin’ Aunt Jemima Pancakes” or phrases like “Every bite is Happyfyin’ light”. Particularly the 2nd phrase is created in context of a jingle to play with the stereotype of the era that “all Black people can sing or they use songs to pass time”. Most of the Aunt Jemima ads include Aunt Jemima’s words in a rhythmic phrase with a southern dialect.

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Additional Thoughts:
I am incredibly happy that throughout the course of history things have changed a great deal for the better, and advertisements that are THIS racially offensive no longer exist. While Aunt Jemima still exists today as a brand, the portrayal of Aunt Jemima is no longer that of the “Mammy” figure. However, an African American woman’s face is STILL used as the main trademark of the company.

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Let me know your thoughts and feelings about this. If you are African American yourself, do you find this trademark to still be personally offensive? And for what reasons? If you are not African American, do you find this trademark to still be a negative representation of African American woman based on the history of this brand alone?

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Personally my take, (and I LOVE this product, I grew up on it) is that the name of the brand should be changed and their should be a new trademark made not based around race. The company of Quaker Oats could make a huge national statement that “We are changing the name and trademark of our Aunt Jemima products, but not the product itself” to avoid losing customers over confusion, and perhaps to lose the customers who may still hold onto bigoted options of the past. I believe that could be one step closer to a world of full equality and not selling a product based off of or around any race at all.    Cheers, and love and light to all!

– KS

Works Cited:

(1) Slave in a Box: The Strange Career of Aunt Jemima, M. M. Manning, University of Virginia Press, Charlottesville, Virginia, 1998, ISBN 0-8139-1811-1 p68

(2) Taylor, Erica. “Little Known Black History Fact: The History of Aunt Jemima.” Black America Web, 29 Mar. 2013, Web. Mar. 8th 2018blackamericaweb.com/2013/03/28/little-known-black-history-fact-the-history-of-aunt-jemima/.

(3) The Quaker Oats Company. “Aunt Jemima Our History.” Aunt Jemima, 2018, Web. Mar. 8th 2018, www.auntjemima.com/our-history.

(4) Storyteller. “Living Trademarks: The Woman Behind the Faces of Aunt Jemima.” Black Then, 6 Aug. 2017, Web. Mar. 8th 2018, blackthen.com/living-trademarks-the-women-behind-the-faces-of-aunt-jemima/4/.

(5) United Press International. “Singer Edith Wilson Famous ‘Aunt Jemima’ Dies.” UPI , 1 Apr. 1981, Web. Mar. 8th 2018, www.upi.com/Archives/1981/04/01/Singer-Edith-Wilson-famous-Aunt-Jemima-dies/5552354949200/.

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