Aunt Jemima
It is one of the easiest ways to make pancakes. People may still be preparing pancakes by hand if it was not for the invention of the ready-mixed pancake flour.
Chris L. Rutt and Charles G. Underwood bought the Pearl Milling Company in 1889 (10). The idea for ready-mixed pancake flour was theirs, and they began producing it that same year(11).
Rutt thought of the name “Aunt Jemima” while he was listening to a vaudeville radio show (12). Unfortunately, the two went bankrupt in 1890 and had to sell the formula to the R.T. Davis Milling Company (13). This company marveled at the idea of the pancake mix and searched right away for the perfect woman to represent the food. Davis hired a woman named Nancy Green, an African-American cook from Chicago (14).
When the product was first shown to consumers, Nancy Green demonstrated how to use the mix (15). Nancy Green was called the 'Pancake Queen' by the Fair officials and people loved her (16). She signed a lifetime contract with the Davis Milling Company and she toured the country promoting the Pancake Mix until her death in 1923 (17). Although she no longer lives, her figure can be seen on millions of syrup bottles, boxes of pancake mix, and various other foods as seen below.
Click below to find out more about Chris L. Rutt and Charles G. Underwood.