Talk to any “baby-boomer” and Aunt Jemima was the pancake of preference on the breakfast table. The Aunt Jemima character was actually developed and used in 1889 to market the Pearl Milling Company pancake mix that was a failure and ended up being sold to the R. T. Davis Milling Company in St. Joseph Missouri in 1890. The character was inspired by a minstrel show featuring the "Old Jemima" song in the fall of 1889. The R. T. Davis Milling Company sold the “last ready-mix” during a flour-glutted market in 1890 in white paper bags with the imprint of the new character and called it Aunt Jemima. The R. T. Davis Milling Company changed its name to Aunt Jemima Mills in 1914 and the Quaker Oats Company bought the brand in 1926 and actually registered the Aunt Jemima trademarked in 1937. No one really knows exactly when Aunt Jemima showed up on kitchenware, but one of the first was the Toaster Cover with the doll on top and her famous cookie jar that were introduced in the 1920s. Many other pieces have been added since then to reflect both the emancipation of the slave, the appearance of black nannies and cooks into the mainstream through two world wars and a major recession, but the image of one who is smiling and bringing some welcome items to the kitchen table.
Aunt Jemima, was given the Key to the City of Albion, Michigan on January 25, 1964. An actor portraying Jemima visited Albion many times for fundraisers. Quaker Oats introduced Aunt Jemima syrup in 1966 and was followed by Aunt Jemima Butter Lite syrup in 1985 and Butter Rich syrup in 1991. The original character of Aunt Jemima has been modified several times over the past 100 years – the latest being in 1968 when the red kerchief was removed to reveal a natural hairdo and pearl earrings. What better treat than a piece from our Aunt Jemima collection of ceramic kitchenware from Generationgifts.com.
