6. Nancy Green became a fixture at American fairs and celebrations
For the next several years, Nancy Green traveled the country to appear before audiences as Aunt Jemima. The audiences weren’t in theaters. She appeared at state and county fairs, rodeos, industrial exhibitions, trade shows, and Fourth of July celebrations. During the winter months, she appeared in urban markets and grocery stores. At the same time, support marketing emerged. Ragdolls, their appearance based on the original cutout dolls, were offered by the company, at her appearances and by mail order. As she grew older, Nancy tired of the pace. In 1900, Davis Mills wanted to send her to the Paris Exhibition, an international celebration of the centennial. She declined. She returned to working as a domestic in Chicago. Nancy died when struck by a car in 1923.
Later scholars debate whether she truly had a lifetime contract as Aunt Jemima or if the company created that story as part of the mythical Aunt Jemima tale. When she refused the trip to Paris, they immediately hired Agnes Moodey, of whom relatively little is known, to assume the role in France. What is known is the company presented her as the original Aunt Jemima, and press reports of her trip to Paris and subsequent return referred to her attending “every exposition of any consequence in the last 25 years”. That would mean Moodey had performed the Aunt Jemima role since 1876, longer than the product she pitched had existed at the time. Moodey’s return from Paris made newspapers across the country, which all referred to the return of Aunt Jemima, rather than the actress portraying her, in their headlines.
