Black Mammy

Jemima's story began in 1889 when Charles Rutt, a St. Joseph, Missouri, newspaper man, got the idea of a self rising pancake mix that required only the addition of water. He took the name Aunt Jemima from a vaudeville song of the time by the well known team of Baker and Farrell. The R.T. Davis Mills in St. Joseph bought the idea--and with it the supporting story. To give character to the logo--wide mouthed, rag headed, crudely rendered--Davis Mills invented a whole legend for Aunt Jemima. Aunt Jemima, the story went, had been a cook on the Louisiana plantation of a certain Colonel Higbee and that her reputation for fine pancakes had spread far and wide. In 1925, Davis sold the Aunt Jemima brand and operation to Quaker Oats, whose gentle Penn figure was about the same age. Aunt Jemima products of pancake mix and syrup can found in local grocery stores with a much more contemporary look.