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Aunt Jemima is based on the common stereotype of the
mammy archetype, a character in minstrel shows in the late 1800s. Her skin is dark and dewy, with a pearly white smile. She wears a scarf over her head and a polka dot dress with a white collar, similar to the common attire and physical features of "mammy" characters throughout history.
[12] A character named "Aunt Jemima" appeared on the stage in Washington, D.C., as early as 1864.
[13]
The inspiration for Aunt Jemima was
Billy Kersands' American-style
minstrelsy/
vaudeville song "
Old Aunt Jemima", written in 1875. Rutt reportedly saw a minstrel show featuring the "Old Aunt Jemima" song in the fall of 1889, presented by
blackface performers identified by Arthur F. Marquette as "Baker & Farrell".
[8] Marquette recounts that the actor playing Aunt Jemima wore an
apron and
kerchief, and Rutt appropriated this Aunt Jemima character to market the Pearl Milling Company pancake mix in late 1889.
[8][14]
However, Doris Witt[
who?] was unable to confirm Marquette's account. Witt suggests that Rutt might have witnessed a performance by the vaudeville performer Pete F. Baker, who played a character described in newspapers of that era as "Aunt Jemima". If this is correct, the original inspiration for the Aunt Jemima character was a white male in blackface, whom some have described as a German immigrant.
[10]
