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"The ads sold 'the promise that the buyer could appropriate the leisure, beauty, and raical and class status of the plantation South by purchasing a box of pancake flour.' Not pancakes but a way of life was being sold" (Norris 31).

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Aunt Jemima pictures (both from same site):

http://web.wm.edu/americanstudies/370/2005F/sp6/auntjemima_history.htm

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"She never told me about having worked for Quaker Oats, so reading the story was like listening to her speaking to me from the grave. She seems to be saying, don't be ashamed for me, because I am not. She said her aim was to give Americans a favorable opinion of her people: 'I'm a public representative of my race. I get the opportunity to meet little white children, children in small towns who have never seen a negro before. I try to leave them with the best impression I can'"(Norris 34)

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"My children see the friendly black woman on the pancake box smiling at them and have no idea of the tortured history behind that smile. The Aunt Jemima they're growing up with is a far cry from the woman whose provenance and speech are rooted in slavery" (Norris 38).

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One of the earliest portrayals of Aunt Jemima

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One of the earliest portrayals of Aunt Jemima

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Readers of the Grace of Silence who were impacted by this story:

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Note: The Common Reading Discussion is a moderated forum. Please keep blog entries respectful and relevant. Thank you for your participation.

4. Grandmother Ione worked as a traveling Aunt Jemima. Norris' mother had mixed emotions about the role, but her uncle was more positive. What is your position on this? Have you thought about the Aunt Jemima image on the pancake syrup bottle? What are some other commercial images in American advertising that are connected to cultural stereotypes? (e.g., the KFC Colonel, Taco Bell chihuahua)

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Note: The Common Reading Discussion is a moderated forum. Please keep blog entries respectful and relevant. Thank you for your participation. 4. Grandmother Ione worked as a traveling Aunt Jemima. Norris' mother had mixed emotions about the role, but her uncle was more positive. What is your position on this?

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The background behind the brand and some of the women who represented it.

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In 1890, a former slave named Nancy Green was hired to be the spokesperson for Aunt Jemima brand food products. Nancy Green was born into slavery in 1834 in Montgomery County, Kentucky. In 1889 the creators of Aunt Jemima, Charles Rutt and Charles Underwood, sold the company to R.T Davis, who soon found Nancy Green in Chicago. The previous owners had already agreed upon her 'look' of a bandana and apron. Davis combined the Aunt Jemima look with a catchy tune from the Vaudeville circuit to make the Aunt Jemima brand.

Green's identity was first uncovered at the Worlds' Columbian Exposition in 1893. There were so many people interested in the Aunt Jemima exhibit, police were called for crowd control. Green served pancakes to thousands of people. People loved her warm personality and friendly demeanor, not to mention her cooking. Green was given an award for showmanship at the exposition. 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 to serve as spokesperson. She was a living legend of the brand until she died in a car accident in September 1923.

After Green's passing, the owner of Aunt Jemima, R.T. Davis, experienced financial issues and the brand was sold to Quaker Oats two years later.

As for the image of Aunt Jemima, Nancy Green was followed by Anna Robinson, who's image was changed to a painted portrait on the packaging of the mix. Next was Chicago blues singer and actress Edith Wilson. She was the first Aunt Jemima to appear in television commercials. After Wilson there was Ethel Ernestine Harper, a former school teacher and actress. The fourth Aunt Jemima was Rosie Hall who was an advertising employee at Quaker Oats until she discovered their need for a new Aunt Jemima. After she died, Hall's grave was declared a historical landmark. Next, there was Aylene Lewis. She made her first appearance of Aunt Jemima in 1955 at the Aunt Jemima restaurant at Disneyland. The last woman known to appear as Aunt Jemima publicly was Ann Short Harrington. Harrington would make television appearances as the brand spokesperson in the New York area.

Also On Black America Web:

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Erica Taylor, The Tom Joyner Morning Show

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Little Known Black History Fact: The History of Aunt Jemima

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In 1890, a former slave named Nancy Green was hired to be the spokesperson for Aunt Jemima brand food products. Nancy Green was born into slavery in 1834 in Montgomery County, Kentucky. In 1889 the creators of Aunt Jemima, Charles Rutt and Charles Underwood, sold the company to R.T Davis, who soon found Nancy Green in Chicago.

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This chapter details the work of Michele Norris's grandmother as a traveling Aunt Jemima. During her work for Quaker Oats, she visited small midwestern towns, some of which had never seen an African American before. "'I try to leave them with the best impression I can,'" says Ione. Despite her work and the stereotypes associated with the brand, Quaker oats never kept a record of Ione and the other women who served as regional representatives of the brand. Since then, Aunt Jemima has had many makeovers, losing the image of a woman who was rooted in slavery in favor of a "church council member" appearance. Michele Norris explores a prejudice that is both personal and national at the same time through the eyes of a pancake box.