Crazy for My Collectibles

We all recall the image of Aunt Jemima on pancake mix boxes, you know, the smiling face of a African American mammy type woman who wore a hair-kerchief and apron and appeared so friendly and made you feel so comfortable purchasing the product from her smiling trustable face.

The commercial Mammy image we are familiar with today began as far back as 1889 by a man named Chris L. Rutt who was a business man from Missouri and sold a self-rising pancake mix and when he heard a song about “Aunt Jemima” from a vaudeville group of Baker and Farrell the idea of commercializing Aunt Jemima was born.

There were more than 40 women who portrayed Aunt Jemima for the pancake mix. Nancy Green was one of these women and she traveled with the R.L. Davis Company who bought the original Aunt Jemima pancake mix business form Chris L. Rutt until her death in 1923. Nancy was hired to serve pancakes at shows and exhibits promoting the pancake mix and it is said that in 1893 at an exhibit in Chicago over 1 million pancakes were served! In the early 1920s Quaker Oats purchased the company and brand from R. L. Davis along with the Aunt Jemima name and image and has been selling the pancake mix ever since. Quaker also trademarked “Aunt Jemima” in 1937. Edith Wilson was another long-time Aunt Jemima that was hired during the 1950s and portrayed the image for some 20 years.

The company’s’ that were selling the Aunt Jemima pancake mix had items created like pins, puzzles, dolls, salt and pepper shakers, and recipe books, sugar and creamer sets, six-piece spice jars with rack, and the mammy cookie jars. In 1949 a plastic syrup pitcher was available and was attached to the pancake box as a freebie to entice folks to purchase the product. Also, many of these products were available by filling out one of the coupon cards that came with your Aunt Jemima pancake mix purchase. There were even Aunt Jemima paper hats and Halloween masks that were advertising freebies.

Today, Aunt Jemima and Mammy Black Americana collectibles are becoming increasingly difficult to come by and these items from a by gone era are highly sought after by collectors. Below are some pricing values of what Aunt Jemima items are considered valued in today’s market and can be found in the book – Black Memorabilia for the Kitchen, by Jan Lindenberg (author) for Schiffer Publishing.

Aunt Jemima Oil Cloth Dolls – $500-$600 for set (Includes Aunt Jemima, Uncle Mose, Diana and Wade. Please check our products page for an available rare set!)

1950s Aunt Jemima & Uncle Mose Sugar and Creamer – $200-$400 (F & F Mold Co. Dayton, Ohio. Yellow, Greenish Yellow, Light Blue rare)

1950s Aunt Jemima Plastic Cookie Jar – $450-$550  (F & F Mold Co. Dayton, Ohio. 12” inches)

1950s Aunt Jemima & Uncle Mose Salt & Pepper Shakers – $75-$100 (F & F Mold Co. Dayton, Ohio)

1980s Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix Boxes – $60-$70

1900s Halloween Mask of Aunt Jemima – $450-$525

For more information visit the Aunt Jemima page HERE.