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The Real and Problematic History Behind Aunt Jemima

Larry Holzwarth February 13, 2021 30 min

Louise Beavers - Imitation of Life — IMITATION OF LIFE, Louise Beavers, Claudette Colbert, 1934

20. Aunt Jemima existed as a brand for over 130 years

The Aunt Jemima brand represented one of the most successful food companies in American history. Wikimedia

Almost from the beginning and throughout the 20^th century, the Aunt Jemima brand generated controversy. At first, it was a whisper, during the mid-century it grew to a rumble. By the turn of the 21^st century, it was a steady roar. Racism in advertising and product marketing became a subject researched and taught in colleges and universities. Advertising agencies and professional publications discussed and dissected its prevalence and future. Always at the center of the discussions appeared Aunt Jemima. The image originated with a minstrel performer of a Southern slave, and grew into the stereotype of a Mammy in the pre-war south; happy, loyal, and in reality, fictional.

The brand exploited and built upon the image for decades. Over two dozen actors portrayed Aunt Jemima officially, with countless more using the image for various means. For decades, the brand appeared innocuous to some, and irredeemably offensive to others. By the time its owners attempted to remove the image from its slave origins, the link was too well-established to sever. Even the name had entered the lexicon as insulting, and often, Black Americans used it for just that reason, as a sneering insult. Aunt Jemima emerged as one more of the many attempts to rewrite American history by Southern supporters during the period of the Lost Cause, a time when the South honored its heroes as loyal Americans and denied its true racial history.

Where do we find this stuff? Here are our sources:

“Brand Origins” Our History, Aunt Jemima.com. Online

“Aunt Jemima: It Was Never About the Pancakes”. Sarah Doneghy, Black Excellence. January 30, 2018.

“The Unkindest Cut: A History of Black Paper Dolls”. DeNeen L. Brown, The Washington Post. November 29, 2006

“World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893”. Article, The American Experience. PBS. Online

“Overlooked No More: Nancy Green the ‘Real Aunt Jemima'”. Sam Roberts, The New York Times. July 17, 2020

“Aunt Jemima Back”. Article, Independence (Kansas) Daily Reporter. December 3, 1900

“Aunt Jemima and Family!”. Mary Jane Lamphier, Collector’s Journal. January 13, 2020

“How Aunt Jemima Changed US Trademark Law”. Mark Soniak, Mentalfloss. June 15, 2012

“One more on Aunt Jemima”. Dennis Crouch, Patentlyo. July 2, 2020

“The real stories of the Chicago women who portrayed Aunt Jemima”. John Mark Hansen, Chicago Tribune. June 19, 2020

“Tess Gardella, 52, Comedienne, Dead”. Obituary, The New York Times. January 4, 1950