Aunt Jemima is a brand of pancake mix, syrup, and other breakfast foods. The pancake mix was developed in 1888–1889 by the Pearl Milling Company and advertised as the first ready-mix.[1][2] The Aunt Jemima character is based on the enslaved "Mammy" archetype.[3][4] The "Aunt Jemima Doctrine" in US trademark law originates in a 1915 case between the pancake mix company and an unrelated seller of pancake syrup. The brand has been owned by the Quaker Oats Company since 1926.[2]
Nancy Green portrayed Aunt Jemima at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, one of the first Black corporate models in the United States.[1] Subsequent advertising agencies hired dozens of actors to perform the role as the first organized sales promotion campaign.[5]
Since its debut, the character has been criticized as an example of exploited African American women. "Aunt Jemima" is sometimes used as a female version of the derogatory epithet "Uncle Tom" or "Rastus". In June 2020, Quaker Oats announced that the Aunt Jemima brand would be retired "to make progress toward racial equality."[6] They subsequently announced in February 2021 that the line will be re-branded in June 2021 as Pearl Milling Company after the original owners of the pancake mix.[7]