November 17

Nancy Green's Birthday
 

Nancy Green was born a slave in Montgomery County, Kentucky in 1834  and became one of the first black corporate models in the United States. She  subsequently moved to Chicago where in 1890 she was hired by R.T. Davis  under an exclusive to promote his  ready-mixed, self-rising pancake flour which he called Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix.  Davis had just bought the formula from the Pearl Milling Company after they went bankrupt. Nancy was to dress in what is now an iconic costume to promote the product and soon became the advertising world's first living trademark. The Aunt Jemima name and costume were the idea of Chris Rutt, a newspaperman who was one of the owners of the Pearl Milling Company after he attended a vaudeville show where he heard a  tune called "Aunt Jemima" sung by a blackface performer who was wearing an apron and bandanna headband.  The rest, as they say, is history. At the 1893 Colombian Exposition in Chicago, Davis made an all-out effort to promote the new pancake mix, and built the world's largest flour barrel. 'Nancy Green demonstrated how to use the new mix, and the exhibit was so popular, police had to control the crowds at the Aunt Jemima booth. Nancy was awarded a medal and proclaimed 'Pancake Queen' by the Fair officials.
		Portrait of Nancy Green as "Aunt Jemima" by A. B. Frost

Soon signed to a lifetime contract by Davis, Green was a hit all across the country, as she toured demonstrating the new Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix, and by 1910 it was available nationally. She played the part of Aunt Jemima until her death on September 24, 1923  in a car accident) Aunt Jemima Mills were subsequently purchased in 1925 by the Quaker Oats Company of Chicago.

The name "Jemima" is biblical in origin and comes from Yəmīmā, the first of Job's daughters. The term "Aunt Jemima" has unfortunately also taken on a derogatory connotation of a "mammy" when applied to African American women and is considered offensive to African-Americans today.
 

Pancake Queen Pancakes
 

This recipe for self-rising pancakes would cause Aunt Jemima to lose her Pancake Queen title.