Aunt Jemima Syrup
Origins
There are conflicting histories of the Aunt Jemima pancake mix and syrup.
According to The Quaker Oats Company, it was founded in 1889 by Chris Rutt, a newspaperman, and Charles Underwood, a businessman. In 1890, they sold the formula to the R.T. Davis Milling Company. There is no mention of the origins of the name “Aunt Jemima” or any person marketing the company as “Aunt Jemima” to the public until the Chicago World Fair in 1933. The Quaker Oats Company states:
"For the Chicago World’s Fair in 933, advertising planners decided to bring the Aunt Jemima character back to life. They hired Anna Robinson, described as a large, gregarious woman with the face of an angel. She traveled the country promoting Aunt Jemima until her death in 1951." 1
While the identities of the businessmen and acquisition transaction dates seem in agreement amongst various sources, several sources add or differ on information regarding the origins of the “Aunt Jemima” name as an idea and the life of the first individual who was hired as a muse to promote Aunt Jemima. According to The New York Times2, The Atlantic3, the book “Black Women in America, a Historical Encyclopedia”4, and the non-profit African American Registry5, the concept of “Aunt Jemima” came after Rutt witnessed blackface actors perform the song “Old Aunt Jemima” at a minstrel. The lyrics portrayed an overly-optimistic, asexual, middle-aged mammy (Manring, 1988). The mammy image portrayed nostalgic memories of Old South plantations and the black women who cooked and doted on white owners’ children 2.
By 1893, R.T. Davis Milling Company had hired a former slave, Nancy Green, to act as a muse and represent Aunt Jemima to the World’s Columbian Exhibition held in Chicago 3,5. Her warm and appealing personality made her the ideal "Aunt Jemima," a living trademark. (Her demonstrations drew such large crowd that that guards were assigned to keep the crowds moving. The Davis Milling Company received over 50,000 orders, and Fair officials awarded Nancy Green a medal and certificate for her showmanship. She was offered a lifetime contract. Nancy Green was already 56 years old at the time, and continued to play “Aunt Jemima” until her death in 1923 4.
These ‘additional’ facts make sense, as The Quaker Oats Company purchased Aunt Jemima from the R.T. Davis Milling Company in 1925 due to the latter’s financial shortcomings. Thus, The Quaker Oats Company is correct in stating their intentions to “bring the Aunt Jemima character back to life” in 1933, but they neglect to give credit to the life of former slave, Nancy Green and omitted the origins of the Aunt Jemima concept.
Changes in History
The brand of Aunt Jemima was founded in 1889 with the first pancake ready mix.1 One of the biggest successes that the original owners made was hiring Nancy Green as the spokesperson for the company. It was so popular they had to rebrand the company and name it Aunt Jemima Mills Company. Nancy Green was a former slave, and was hired in 1890. After her tragic passing the character of Aunt Jemima was not used for ten years.
In 1966 the famous Aunt Jemima syrup was introduced to the public, and it was a huge hit. 1968 was the introduction to frozen waffles, and 1970 was the introduction to frozen French toast. In 1975, the Aunt Jemima lite syrup was brought to market. Throughout the years Aunt Jemima has been a trusted and profitable company and today the products that Aunt Jemima carries are five different kinds of pancake mixes, six different types of syrups and one type of self-rising flour. 1
Throughout its over 120 years of being in business the company does not have a squeaky clean reputation due to several controversies and lawsuits. Many believe that the original “Aunt Jemima” was actually a white man, with a painted black face. 1 This theory is often blatantly dismissed as racist. The other controversy is that Nancy Green was a slave at the time of modeling for Aunt Jemima, so there are notions that her work as Aunt Jemima went unpaid or severely underpaid, despite the huge success of the brand of which she was an integral figure.
Symbolism and Racism
Scholars and Journalists have dubbed the portrayal of Aunt Jemima as "racist". The Quaker Oats company have come under fire several times for continuing the use of a freed African slave as the face of the product. An Op-Ed published by the New York Times argues why this representation is racist. " This Aunt Jemima logo was an outgrowth of Old South plantation nostalgia and romance grounded in an idea about the "mammy", devoted and submissive servant who eagerly nurtured the children of her white master and mistress while neglecting her own." 2
In “Mammy : a century of race, gender, and Southern memory” published by Kimberly Wallace-Sanders notes that “the most romanticized antebellum plantation life has always been the backdrop to the trademark portrait of Aunt Jemima. In these advertisements, the words "old south", "old time", and "plantation" appear again and again as an incantation invoking the spirit of antebellum America."8 Aunt Jemima symbolizes the “old plantation flavor” that was once available only to “Aunt Jemima’s master and his guests." Simply put, it romanticizes the idea of domesticity, slavocracy and old southern hospitality. Similarly, Elizabeth O’Learey suggested that Aunt Jemima symbolized “National Family” where a “National Family” consisted of a black caregiver. It represented the much yearned post-Civil War “racial nostalgia” of the “old South” by the North and the South.8
Quaker Oats believes that the representative symbolizes families around the world and the American heritage and rather it does not represent racist prejudice. Quaker Oats emphasizes on brand image of Authenticity and value of American Heritage.9
To Quaker Oats' credit, by avoiding any recent controversies, many daily consumers today such as the millennials are oblivious to the the past controversies of Aunt Jemima and don't believe the brand is a symbol of racism. The head of a North American Branding firm, Landor, Adamson believes that "if you drop [Aunt Jemima's] name, you are left with a generic store brand syrup" . Moreover, he goes on to highlight the the costs that would be incurred by revamping the entire brand; $100,000 - $200,000 and then a further $2M to $50M for promoting the revamped brand.
Image of Aunt Jemima: 1993 Onward
In 1993, Quaker Oats hired New York advertising agency Jordan, McGrath, Case and Taylor (JMCT) to develop an advertising campaign to relaunch the Aunt Jemima brand in 1994. The goal was to create a more favourable impression of Aunt Jemima, a brand that had been evoking painful memories of a racially prejudiced past. The slogan JMCT initially came up with was “Aunt Jemima is Alive and Cookin’."7 Quaker Oats was concerned with backlash from the African American communities regarding the new image of Aunt Jemima and the overall notion of maintaining Aunt Jemima for advertising purposes. A video of the new commercial shows a re-imaged Aunt Jemima.
Quaker Oats conducted research with advertising executives and what they thought the Aunt Jemima brand would mean to white and black customers. They presumed that to white consumers, Aunt Jemima was a food expert, evoked pleasant memories (e.g. grandma’s kitchen) and family values. To black customers, executives thought that Aunt Jemima evoked memories of the racist and stereotypical image of black people as slaves and servants.."7
During this time of re-branding in the 1990s, many scholars had different opinions about Aunt Jemima’s image. The Wall Street Journal quoted an African American scholar who stated Aunt Jemima was a reminder of white people’s image of black people one hundred years ago as servants.."7 Quaker Oats and JMCT were greatly concerned about consumers’ reaction and were very careful in considering Aunt Jemima’s new image, slogan, and celebrity associations.
Despite their fears, the relaunch in 1994 had minimal backlash. In actuality, there were mixed views from African Americans because some associated the brand with negative memories, while others held Aunt Jemima in high regard. The new Quaker Oats image of Aunt Jemima did not paint an image of slavery. Many younger African Americans were also less familiar with Aunt Jemima’s past and therefore did not associate the brand with slavery.."7
According to the Aunt Jemima website, the products “continue to stand for warmth, nourishment and trust - qualities you’ll find in loving moms from diverse backgrounds who care for and want the very best for their families."1To this day, the rebranded and reimaged version of Aunt Jemima continues to stock up shelves in supermarkets and grocery stores. While the Aunt Jemima brand has primarily avoided any further public scrutiny and have managed to quell any past controversies; the concept of Aunt Jemima is still prevalent in popular culture. The brand claims to reflect the attitude of "loving moms from diverse backgrounds" as if products are homemade, yet they are mass produced in factories and contain many artificial ingredients. Although negative connotations of Aunt Jemima have been alleviated through the rebranding, the brand continues to be a reminder of America’s racially discriminatory past.
References:
1. The Quaker Oats Company. (2016). Aunt Jemima: Our History. Retrieved July 15, 2016, from http://www.auntjemima.com/aj_history
2. Richardson, R. (2015). Can We Please, Finally, Get Rid Of ‘Aunt Jemima’?. The New York Times.
3. Rothenberg Gritz, J. (2012, New Racism Museum Reveals The Ugly Truth Behind Aunt Jemima. The Atlantic,
4. Clark Hine, D. (1993). Black Women on America: An Historical Encyclopedia. Brooklyn, NY: Carlson Publishing.
5. African American Registry. (2013). Nancy Green, the Original "Aunt Jemima". Retrieved July 28, 2016, from http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/nancy-green-original-aunt-jemima
6. Manring, M. (1998). Slave in a Box: The Strange Career of Aunt Jemima. Richmond: University of Virginia Press.
7. Davis, J. F. ""Aunt Jemima Is Alive and Cookin'?" An Advertiser's Dilemma of Competing Collective Memories." Journal of Macromarketing 27, no. 1 (2007): 25-37. Accessed July/August, 2016
8. Kimberly Wallace-Sanders(2008),"Mammy : A Century of Race, Gender, and Southern Memory" pp 59-62 https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ptid=mdp.39015082696587;view=1up;seq=77
9. Claire Zillman(2014) Why It's Hard For Aunt Jemima To Ditch Her Unsavory Past, http://fortune.com/2014/08/12/aunt-jemima-racism/