Aunt Jemima was real, but she didn't really create the pancake mix. Nancy Green was born a slave in Montgomery County, Kentucky in 1834. Her given name was Nancy Green, but the world knew her as "Aunt Jemima." Although the famous Aunt Jemima recipe was not hers, she became the advertising world’s first living trademark. She was attractive, friendly, a good storyteller, and an excellent cook. Her ability to project her warm and appealing personality made her the ideal "Aunt Jemima."
In 1889, the Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix was introduced in St. Joseph, Missouri after Chris L. Rutt, a newspaperman, and Charles G. Underwood bought the Pearl Milling Company. Searching for a novel product to survive in a highly competitive business, the two men hit on the original idea of developing and packaging a ready-mixed, self-rising pancake flour.
In the fall of 1889, Rutt attended a vaudeville show where he heard a catchy tune called "Aunt Jemima," sung by a blackfaced performer, clad in apron and bandana headband. Soon after, the whole town was humming the song, and Rutt immediately decided that Aunt Jemima was the name for his pancake mix. Short on capital, Rutt and Underwood went broke and sold the formula to the R.T. Davis Milling Company in 1890. Davis decided to try a new idea, and began looking for a Negro woman to employ as a living trademark for his new product. He found Nancy Green in Chicago, Illinois. She was 59 at the time and worked in the home of a judge.
In 1893, the Davis Milling executives boldly decided to risk their entire future with an all-out promotion at the gigantic World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. They constructed the world’s largest flour barrel. "Aunt Jemima," in the person of Nancy Green, demonstrated the pancake mix. She kept up lively conversation with the crowd, while making and serving thousands of pancakes. She was such a sensation that special details of policemen had to be assigned to keep the crowds moving at the Aunt Jemima exhibition booth.
Davis received over 50,000 orders from merchants all over America and foreign countries. Fair officials awarded Nancy Green a medal and certificate for her showmanship, and proclaimed her the "Pancake Queen." Davis signed her to a lifetime contract, and she traveled on promotional tours all over the country. Because of Nancy Green’s fame, her arrival was usually announced on giant billboards. The Davis Company prospered, and by 1910, the name of "Aunt Jemima" was known in all 48 states and had attained such popularity that many person tried to infringe on the trademark rights.
Until the emergence of Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix, the bulk of flour sales were made in the winter. After the success of the Nancy Green promotion, flour sales were up year-long and pancakes were no longer considered exclusively for breakfast. The Davis Company later ran into money problems and had to sell, but Nancy Green maintained her job until she was killed by a car on the streets of Chicago’s southside on September 24, 1923. |
