WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.160 I want you to close your eyes for a second, unless 00:00:02.160 --> 00:00:03.560 you're driving. Please don't close your eyes 00:00:03.560 --> 00:00:07.860 if you're driving. But just mentally transport 00:00:07.860 --> 00:00:10.339 yourself into your kitchen. Okay. It's Saturday 00:00:10.339 --> 00:00:12.699 morning. Maybe you're 10 years old or maybe you're 00:00:12.699 --> 00:00:16.559 40. The skillet is sizzling. The smell of butter 00:00:16.559 --> 00:00:19.039 and, you know, batter is wafting through the 00:00:19.039 --> 00:00:21.519 house. I'm there. I can smell it. You open the 00:00:21.519 --> 00:00:23.620 pantry or look at the breakfast table and what 00:00:23.620 --> 00:00:26.640 do you see? For about 130 years, the answer for 00:00:26.640 --> 00:00:28.969 millions of Americans was the same thing. You 00:00:28.969 --> 00:00:31.230 saw the red box, you saw the bottle of syrup, 00:00:31.269 --> 00:00:34.869 and you saw the face. That face. It's probably 00:00:34.869 --> 00:00:37.729 one of the most recognizable images in the history 00:00:37.729 --> 00:00:41.049 of global advertising. The warm smile, the pearl 00:00:41.049 --> 00:00:44.030 earrings in later years, that sense of comfort, 00:00:44.149 --> 00:00:46.630 it was a staple. Absolutely. But if you walk 00:00:46.630 --> 00:00:49.549 down that same grocery aisle today in the post 00:00:49.549 --> 00:00:53.359 -2021 world, that face is gone. The name is gone. 00:00:53.439 --> 00:00:56.060 The box is still red. The font looks kind of 00:00:56.060 --> 00:00:58.539 similar, but it says Pearl Milling Company. Which, 00:00:58.619 --> 00:01:00.659 let's be honest, sounds a bit like a generic 00:01:00.659 --> 00:01:03.159 shell company from a movie about corporate embezzlement. 00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:05.859 It's very industrial. It is. It sounds like a 00:01:05.859 --> 00:01:08.040 place where you'd buy sheet metal, not pancake 00:01:08.040 --> 00:01:10.719 mix. What? And for a lot of consumers, that switch 00:01:10.719 --> 00:01:13.700 felt like a glitch in the Matrix. It felt like 00:01:13.700 --> 00:01:16.079 it happened overnight. Right. One day she's there. 00:01:16.180 --> 00:01:18.760 The next day, headlines are blazing. Social media 00:01:18.760 --> 00:01:21.609 is melting down. And the brand is... Well, it's 00:01:21.609 --> 00:01:24.329 effectively erased. But that's the thing. And 00:01:24.329 --> 00:01:25.909 this is what we're really digging into today. 00:01:26.629 --> 00:01:28.829 It wasn't sudden. I mean, the erasure was sudden, 00:01:28.909 --> 00:01:31.489 sure. The final act was sudden. Exactly. But 00:01:31.489 --> 00:01:33.750 the tension that led to it, that had been boiling 00:01:33.750 --> 00:01:35.709 for over a century. The writing had been on the 00:01:35.709 --> 00:01:38.269 wall since, I mean, since before the brand was 00:01:38.269 --> 00:01:40.439 even a national hit. And that is our mission 00:01:40.439 --> 00:01:42.939 for this deep dive. We have a massive stack of 00:01:42.939 --> 00:01:45.540 sources here. We've got legal briefs from 1915, 00:01:45.680 --> 00:01:48.780 old census records from the 1930s, minstrel show 00:01:48.780 --> 00:01:51.560 playbills from the 1880s, and corporate press 00:01:51.560 --> 00:01:55.000 releases from 2020. We are going to look past 00:01:55.000 --> 00:01:57.840 the culture war headlines. We have to. Because 00:01:57.840 --> 00:01:59.540 this isn't just a story about a logo change. 00:01:59.840 --> 00:02:02.879 No, it's much darker, much more complex, and 00:02:02.879 --> 00:02:05.519 frankly, much more interesting than a simple 00:02:05.519 --> 00:02:08.379 PR move. This is a story about the invention 00:02:08.379 --> 00:02:11.439 of modern advertising. It's about a trademark 00:02:11.439 --> 00:02:13.939 lawsuit that actually changed the fundamental 00:02:13.939 --> 00:02:17.000 laws of American capitalism. And most importantly, 00:02:17.060 --> 00:02:19.800 it's about the actual breathing women who played 00:02:19.800 --> 00:02:22.080 this character. Yes, that's the human core of 00:02:22.080 --> 00:02:24.099 it. That's the part that really hooked me. We 00:02:24.099 --> 00:02:26.800 are talking about women who were pioneers in 00:02:26.800 --> 00:02:29.439 a way, but who are also trapped in a caricature 00:02:29.439 --> 00:02:32.199 that mocked their very existence. It's a paradox. 00:02:32.580 --> 00:02:35.699 You have a brand built on a mammy archetype, 00:02:35.699 --> 00:02:38.840 literally designed to soothe white anxiety after 00:02:38.840 --> 00:02:41.080 the Civil War. Right. That also provided the 00:02:41.080 --> 00:02:44.139 first real path to fame and, well, some financial 00:02:44.139 --> 00:02:46.879 independence for black female models in America. 00:02:47.039 --> 00:02:49.439 Right. Grappling with that duality is what makes 00:02:49.439 --> 00:02:52.050 this story so difficult and so necessary. So 00:02:52.050 --> 00:02:53.930 let's get into the weeds. And I was genuinely 00:02:53.930 --> 00:02:56.310 surprised to find that this story doesn't start 00:02:56.310 --> 00:02:58.729 on a plantation in the Deep South. It doesn't 00:02:58.729 --> 00:03:00.770 start with a family recipe handed down through 00:03:00.770 --> 00:03:04.210 generations of cooks. No, not at all. It starts 00:03:04.210 --> 00:03:08.650 in St. Joseph, Missouri. The year is 1888. And 00:03:08.650 --> 00:03:10.689 it starts with a problem that I think any modern 00:03:10.689 --> 00:03:13.689 entrepreneur would recognize immediately. Market 00:03:13.689 --> 00:03:16.229 saturation. Okay, so St. Joseph, Missouri. We're 00:03:16.229 --> 00:03:19.069 talking about two guys here, Chris L. Rutt and 00:03:19.069 --> 00:03:21.539 Charles G. Underwood. Right. Rutt was a newspaper 00:03:21.539 --> 00:03:23.919 editor, a guy used to spinning stories, which 00:03:23.919 --> 00:03:27.039 becomes very relevant later. And Underwood was 00:03:27.039 --> 00:03:30.259 his partner. Awards guy. Awards guy. And they 00:03:30.259 --> 00:03:33.479 decide to pivot careers and buy a flour mill. 00:03:33.819 --> 00:03:36.039 On paper, it seemed like a safe bet. Everyone 00:03:36.039 --> 00:03:38.680 needs flour, right? It's a staple. But they timed 00:03:38.680 --> 00:03:41.860 it poorly. Horribly. It was the tail end of the 00:03:41.860 --> 00:03:43.919 Industrial Revolution's impact on agriculture. 00:03:44.580 --> 00:03:46.960 Technology had made milling so efficient that 00:03:46.960 --> 00:03:49.360 the market was absolutely glutted. So just too 00:03:49.360 --> 00:03:52.039 much supply. Way too much. There's too much flour 00:03:52.039 --> 00:03:54.819 and not enough buyers. Prices had crashed. So 00:03:54.819 --> 00:03:57.139 Rutt and Underwood are sitting on this pile of 00:03:57.139 --> 00:03:59.360 product. They can't move. They were bleeding 00:03:59.360 --> 00:04:01.560 money. They needed a differentiator. This is 00:04:01.560 --> 00:04:03.580 the classic necessity is the mother of invention 00:04:03.580 --> 00:04:05.520 moment. They couldn't just sell flour, so they 00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:08.300 had to sell something else. Precisely. They spent 00:04:08.300 --> 00:04:11.120 about a year experimenting in that mill. And 00:04:11.120 --> 00:04:13.759 you have to remember, they weren't chefs. They 00:04:13.759 --> 00:04:16.860 were desperate businessmen trying to save a failing 00:04:16.860 --> 00:04:19.600 investment. Right. They took their excess wheat 00:04:19.600 --> 00:04:22.759 flour, mixed it with cornmeal, and then added 00:04:22.759 --> 00:04:26.579 two crucial chemical ingredients, phosphate of 00:04:26.579 --> 00:04:29.060 lime and soda. Baking soda. Essentially, yes. 00:04:29.240 --> 00:04:32.000 They were creating a chemical reaction in a bag. 00:04:32.579 --> 00:04:36.120 They created the world's first self -rising pancake 00:04:36.120 --> 00:04:39.610 flour. You have to understand, before this, pancakes 00:04:39.610 --> 00:04:42.529 were a scratch process. Right. Let's contextualize 00:04:42.529 --> 00:04:44.329 that for you, if you're listening, and just dump 00:04:44.329 --> 00:04:47.050 the mix in the bowl today. Before this, you had 00:04:47.050 --> 00:04:49.670 to manage your own leavening. That was the hard 00:04:49.670 --> 00:04:51.810 part. Exactly. You had to have a sourdough starter, 00:04:51.970 --> 00:04:54.110 or you had to measure out your baking soda and 00:04:54.110 --> 00:04:56.389 cream of tartar perfectly. If you got the ratio 00:04:56.389 --> 00:04:58.810 wrong, you had hardtack or sludge. It was a skill. 00:04:58.889 --> 00:05:00.689 A real chemical process in your own kitchen. 00:05:00.790 --> 00:05:03.610 It was. Rutt and Underwood automated the chemistry. 00:05:04.009 --> 00:05:06.009 They put the science in the bag. That's a massive 00:05:06.009 --> 00:05:08.569 technological leap. It's really the birth of 00:05:08.569 --> 00:05:11.170 convenience food as we know it. It is. It's the 00:05:11.170 --> 00:05:13.029 grandfather of the TV dinner and the instant 00:05:13.029 --> 00:05:15.569 noodle. But they had a branding problem. They 00:05:15.569 --> 00:05:18.689 were selling this miracle powder in generic paper 00:05:18.689 --> 00:05:21.529 sacks. It had no identity. It was just white 00:05:21.529 --> 00:05:23.730 powder. Which is a hard sell. Here, buy this 00:05:23.730 --> 00:05:25.990 bag of mystery powder. It makes breakfast. Not 00:05:25.990 --> 00:05:27.930 a great slogan. Exactly. They have the what, 00:05:27.970 --> 00:05:29.850 but they don't have the who. They need a hook. 00:05:30.029 --> 00:05:32.670 They need a story. And this is where the story 00:05:32.670 --> 00:05:35.149 takes a turn into the entertainment culture of 00:05:35.149 --> 00:05:37.589 the late 19th century. And we have to be really 00:05:37.589 --> 00:05:40.189 clear about what entertainment meant in 1889. 00:05:40.269 --> 00:05:44.129 We do. In late 1889, Chris Rudd, the newspaper 00:05:44.129 --> 00:05:46.810 editor, goes to a vaudeville house in St. Joseph 00:05:46.810 --> 00:05:49.069 to clear his head. He's looking for inspiration. 00:05:49.550 --> 00:05:52.350 And when we say vaudeville or minstrelsy, I mean, 00:05:52.370 --> 00:05:54.569 we are talking about the dominant form of American 00:05:54.569 --> 00:05:56.569 entertainment at the time. And it was almost 00:05:56.569 --> 00:05:59.689 entirely rooted in mocking black people. That 00:05:59.689 --> 00:06:03.050 was its foundation. So, Rutt watches a performance, 00:06:03.110 --> 00:06:05.730 and he sees a musical number featuring a song 00:06:05.730 --> 00:06:08.709 called Old Aunt Jemima. Oh, wait. Right. The 00:06:08.709 --> 00:06:11.930 song itself had been written back in 1875 by 00:06:11.930 --> 00:06:15.129 a black performer named Billy Cursands. So, it 00:06:15.129 --> 00:06:18.689 has this... Complex Origin itself was a standard 00:06:18.689 --> 00:06:20.649 on the circuit. It was a massive hit. So people 00:06:20.649 --> 00:06:23.230 knew the song. It had name recognition. It did. 00:06:23.329 --> 00:06:25.470 But here's the detail that really underscores 00:06:25.470 --> 00:06:28.949 how artificial this brand identity was. There 00:06:28.949 --> 00:06:31.750 are conflicting accounts of what exactly Rutt 00:06:31.750 --> 00:06:35.110 saw on stage that night. Because history is never 00:06:35.110 --> 00:06:37.550 a straight line. Exactly. One account says he 00:06:37.550 --> 00:06:40.250 saw a pair of blackface performers named Baker 00:06:40.250 --> 00:06:43.040 and Farrell. But another very credible account 00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:45.720 suggests he saw a performer named Pete F. Baker. 00:06:45.920 --> 00:06:48.240 And Pete F. Baker was a white man. A white man. 00:06:48.300 --> 00:06:50.000 And he wasn't just playing a black character. 00:06:50.100 --> 00:06:53.139 This is where it gets truly bizarre. Okay, I 00:06:53.139 --> 00:06:55.699 braced myself. The act was a white man. wearing 00:06:55.699 --> 00:06:58.100 blackface, playing a character who was a German 00:06:58.100 --> 00:07:00.399 immigrant, who in turn was imitating a black 00:07:00.399 --> 00:07:03.680 minstrel, parodying a black female cook. Wait, 00:07:03.740 --> 00:07:05.259 wait, wait. I need you to parse that for me. 00:07:05.319 --> 00:07:07.879 My brain just did a somersault. I know. Let's 00:07:07.879 --> 00:07:09.480 walk through it. It's a white guy. Pretending 00:07:09.480 --> 00:07:11.319 to be a German guy. Who is pretending to be a 00:07:11.319 --> 00:07:13.740 black woman. But not even a black woman. He's 00:07:13.740 --> 00:07:16.000 pretending to be a black minstrel performer who 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:18.399 is parodying a black woman. So it's a copy of 00:07:18.399 --> 00:07:20.860 a copy of a caricature. Correct. It is layers 00:07:20.860 --> 00:07:23.829 of artifice. Rutt wasn't looking at a real person 00:07:23.829 --> 00:07:26.490 or a genuine cultural tradition. He was looking 00:07:26.490 --> 00:07:29.370 at a funhouse mirror reflection designed to make 00:07:29.370 --> 00:07:32.250 white audiences laugh at black stereotypes. It's 00:07:32.250 --> 00:07:35.410 like Inception but for racism. That is actually 00:07:35.410 --> 00:07:37.930 a very accurate way to put it. But Rutt didn't 00:07:37.930 --> 00:07:40.170 see the artifice or he didn't care. He saw the 00:07:40.170 --> 00:07:42.790 reaction. The crowd loved it. The character was 00:07:42.790 --> 00:07:44.709 wearing an apron and a kerchief singing this 00:07:44.709 --> 00:07:48.480 catchy rhythmic song and Rutt had his aha. moment 00:07:48.480 --> 00:07:51.259 that's the brand that's the brand he appropriated 00:07:51.259 --> 00:07:53.879 the name aunt jemima and the image from the lithograph 00:07:53.879 --> 00:07:55.980 posters right there in the theater lobby let's 00:07:55.980 --> 00:07:59.019 pause on the name aunt jemima to a modern ear 00:07:59.019 --> 00:08:01.740 before 2020 that just sounded like a brand name 00:08:01.740 --> 00:08:06.360 like betty crocker or uncle ben but in 1889 aunt 00:08:06.360 --> 00:08:09.699 carried a very specific very heavy weight it 00:08:09.699 --> 00:08:11.540 was the coded language of the jim crow south 00:08:12.029 --> 00:08:14.769 You have to remember, white Southerners absolutely 00:08:14.769 --> 00:08:19.029 refused to use honorifics like Mrs. or Mr. for 00:08:19.029 --> 00:08:21.350 black people. They wouldn't grant them that dignity. 00:08:21.689 --> 00:08:24.970 Never. That implied equality. So aunt -uncle 00:08:24.970 --> 00:08:28.129 became the default terms for older enslaved or 00:08:28.129 --> 00:08:30.970 formerly enslaved people. It was a way to enforce 00:08:30.970 --> 00:08:33.710 a social hierarchy. It's insidious because it 00:08:33.710 --> 00:08:36.409 sounds affectionate, aunt. It implies family. 00:08:36.929 --> 00:08:40.389 It implies love. That's the trap. It was a way 00:08:40.389 --> 00:08:43.120 of claiming familiarity. You're part of our family, 00:08:43.200 --> 00:08:46.159 while strictly maintaining hierarchy. But you 00:08:46.159 --> 00:08:49.139 are not my equal. It signaled that this person 00:08:49.139 --> 00:08:52.460 was safe, domestic, and subservient. So by choosing 00:08:52.460 --> 00:08:55.120 that name, Rutt was explicitly tapping into the 00:08:55.120 --> 00:08:57.700 mammy archetype. Precisely. We need to define 00:08:57.700 --> 00:09:00.539 that. The mammy is a very specific sociological 00:09:00.539 --> 00:09:03.460 construct. It depicts a black woman who is completely 00:09:03.460 --> 00:09:06.019 devoted to the white family she serves. often 00:09:06.019 --> 00:09:08.860 more than to her own family. Right. She is desexualized, 00:09:08.860 --> 00:09:10.779 usually depicted as overweight, dark -skinned, 00:09:10.820 --> 00:09:13.460 smiling, and infinitely patient. It was the white 00:09:13.460 --> 00:09:15.679 fantasy of the happy slave. It's the idea that, 00:09:15.720 --> 00:09:17.740 hey, slavery wasn't that bad. Look how happy 00:09:17.740 --> 00:09:20.460 she is to cook for us. It's a justification after 00:09:20.460 --> 00:09:23.740 the fact. Exactly. And Rutt and Underwood, two 00:09:23.740 --> 00:09:26.500 guys in Missouri facing a flour surplus, looked 00:09:26.500 --> 00:09:28.559 at that archetype and decided it was the perfect 00:09:28.559 --> 00:09:32.299 vehicle to sell breakfast. And from a cold, cynical 00:09:32.299 --> 00:09:35.320 marketing perspective... They were right. They 00:09:35.320 --> 00:09:37.340 were. You have to look at the timeline. We're 00:09:37.340 --> 00:09:41.179 talking late 1880s, early 1890s. The Civil War 00:09:41.179 --> 00:09:44.179 has been over for 25 years, but the country is 00:09:44.179 --> 00:09:46.740 still obsessed with it. The South is establishing 00:09:46.740 --> 00:09:49.919 Jim Crow laws. There was a deep, deep nostalgia 00:09:49.919 --> 00:09:53.240 among white Americans, North and South, for the 00:09:53.240 --> 00:09:55.120 good old days of the plantation. For a version 00:09:55.120 --> 00:09:57.120 of the good old days that never really existed. 00:09:57.240 --> 00:09:59.720 A fantasy version. So this pancake mix wasn't 00:09:59.720 --> 00:10:01.679 just selling food. It was selling a comforting 00:10:01.679 --> 00:10:04.899 lie about history. It was saying, remember when 00:10:04.899 --> 00:10:07.340 things were simple. Remember when everyone knew 00:10:07.340 --> 00:10:10.080 their place. It validated that nostalgic worldview. 00:10:10.320 --> 00:10:12.820 It told consumers, here is this happy, smiling 00:10:12.820 --> 00:10:14.840 figure who wants nothing more than to cook for 00:10:14.840 --> 00:10:17.340 you. It offered a taste of plantation hospitality 00:10:17.340 --> 00:10:20.059 without the moral burden of slavery. Perfect 00:10:20.059 --> 00:10:22.659 summary. But here's the irony. Okay. Despite 00:10:22.659 --> 00:10:25.720 this genius branding, Rutt and Underwood actually 00:10:25.720 --> 00:10:27.700 failed, didn't they? They ran out of capital. 00:10:27.899 --> 00:10:30.389 All that, and they still went broke. They did. 00:10:30.509 --> 00:10:33.409 They were idea guys, not operators. They ran 00:10:33.409 --> 00:10:36.370 out of money in 1890 and sold the company to 00:10:36.370 --> 00:10:39.470 the R .T. Davis Milling Company. And this is 00:10:39.470 --> 00:10:41.309 where the marketing machine really turns on. 00:10:41.450 --> 00:10:44.789 The Davis Company had the capital to take this 00:10:44.789 --> 00:10:48.000 local Missouri brand. and turn it into a national 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:49.980 myth. This is the part of the research that really 00:10:49.980 --> 00:10:52.759 blew my mind. The amount of backstory they invented 00:10:52.759 --> 00:10:55.779 for this character is like something out of a 00:10:55.779 --> 00:10:58.360 Tolkien novel. They didn't just put a picture 00:10:58.360 --> 00:11:00.320 on a box. They wrote a whole fictional biography. 00:11:00.779 --> 00:11:03.500 It was total world building. Marketers invented 00:11:03.500 --> 00:11:06.519 a plantation owner named Colonel Higby. Colonel 00:11:06.519 --> 00:11:08.559 Higbee, of course it's a colonel. Of course. 00:11:08.620 --> 00:11:11.100 The story went that Aunt Jemima was the loyal 00:11:11.100 --> 00:11:13.820 cook on Colonel Higbee's plantation in Louisiana. 00:11:14.200 --> 00:11:17.120 Louisiana. But the mill was in Missouri. Geography 00:11:17.120 --> 00:11:19.279 didn't matter. They needed the Deep South cred. 00:11:19.899 --> 00:11:22.360 Louisiana sounded more authentic to the plantation 00:11:22.360 --> 00:11:25.500 narrative than Missouri. They claimed the secret 00:11:25.500 --> 00:11:28.320 recipe was from the South before the Civil War. 00:11:28.740 --> 00:11:32.259 They coined the phrase matchless plantation flavor. 00:11:32.500 --> 00:11:35.090 It's just layer upon layer of fiction. And they 00:11:35.090 --> 00:11:37.769 had these wild stories about her heroism during 00:11:37.769 --> 00:11:39.710 the war. Oh, this is the best part. They went 00:11:39.710 --> 00:11:42.830 all out. One pamphlet claimed Aunt Jemima fed 00:11:42.830 --> 00:11:46.029 Union soldiers strictly to delay them so that 00:11:46.029 --> 00:11:48.549 Colonel Higbee could escape capture. So she's 00:11:48.549 --> 00:11:51.169 a Confederate loyalist. In their telling, yes. 00:11:51.809 --> 00:11:56.230 It framed her loyalties specifically to her enslaver. 00:11:57.149 --> 00:11:59.690 It's a choice. A very specific choice. What was 00:11:59.690 --> 00:12:02.490 the other one? Something about a shipwreck. Yes. 00:12:02.970 --> 00:12:05.450 Another story said she revived a group of shipwreck 00:12:05.450 --> 00:12:08.049 survivors with her flapjacks. Wait, she revived 00:12:08.049 --> 00:12:10.970 shipwreck survivors with pancakes? Like CPR, 00:12:11.169 --> 00:12:13.570 but with syrup? That was the claim. They turned 00:12:13.570 --> 00:12:16.210 her into a superhero of domesticity. But again, 00:12:16.309 --> 00:12:18.730 let's do a reality check. The recipe came from 00:12:18.730 --> 00:12:20.850 a chemical experiment by two white guys in St. 00:12:20.950 --> 00:12:24.190 Joseph, Missouri in 1888. Using a pearl milling 00:12:24.190 --> 00:12:26.649 process, hence the eventual name change. Exactly. 00:12:26.649 --> 00:12:28.730 The Davis Milling Company wasn't even in a northern 00:12:28.730 --> 00:12:31.009 state, really. Missouri was a border state. The 00:12:31.009 --> 00:12:33.350 whole Deep South lineage was complete fiction. 00:12:33.509 --> 00:12:35.370 It's amazing how effective it was. And they pushed 00:12:35.370 --> 00:12:37.789 this fiction directly to children, too. The paper 00:12:37.789 --> 00:12:41.110 dolls. The paper dolls are a fascinating and 00:12:41.110 --> 00:12:43.429 honestly disturbing piece of cultural history. 00:12:44.029 --> 00:12:47.110 Starting in 1894, you could cut out a family 00:12:47.110 --> 00:12:49.490 of dolls from the pancake box. Okay. You had 00:12:49.490 --> 00:12:51.690 Aunt Jemima, and they gave her a husband named 00:12:51.690 --> 00:12:55.330 Uncle Rastus, later Uncle Moe's, Rastus itself 00:12:55.330 --> 00:12:58.049 being a name for minstrelsy. Of course. And the 00:12:58.049 --> 00:13:00.490 children? The names are caricatures. Comically 00:13:00.490 --> 00:13:02.710 and offensively named. You had children named 00:13:02.710 --> 00:13:06.230 Abraham Lincoln, Dilsey, Zeb, and Dinah, which 00:13:06.230 --> 00:13:08.649 is the collection of stereotypes. But the genius, 00:13:08.870 --> 00:13:11.190 and I use that word strictly in a manipulative 00:13:11.190 --> 00:13:14.279 marketing sense, was the before and after. Right. 00:13:14.460 --> 00:13:17.000 This is the Horatio Alger twist. So the dolls 00:13:17.000 --> 00:13:19.179 came on the box barefoot and dressed in tattered 00:13:19.179 --> 00:13:21.460 clothing. The label said before the receipt was 00:13:21.460 --> 00:13:23.980 sold, receipt being the old word for recipe. 00:13:24.120 --> 00:13:26.500 So poverty. They are depicting poverty and not 00:13:26.500 --> 00:13:28.580 just poverty, but the poverty of enslavement. 00:13:29.179 --> 00:13:31.580 Explicit poverty. But if you bought another box 00:13:31.580 --> 00:13:33.980 or sent away for a premium, you could get elegant 00:13:33.980 --> 00:13:36.740 clothing cutouts to put over the dolls. And that 00:13:36.740 --> 00:13:39.259 set was labeled after the receipt was sold. So 00:13:39.259 --> 00:13:42.740 it was a rags to riches story? Exactly. It symbolized 00:13:42.740 --> 00:13:45.879 that because she sold the recipe to the Northern 00:13:45.879 --> 00:13:48.419 Milling Company, the family was now wealthy. 00:13:48.539 --> 00:13:52.080 It was a way of saying, see, everyone wins. The 00:13:52.080 --> 00:13:54.299 white company gets the pancakes and the black 00:13:54.299 --> 00:13:57.460 family gets rich. It effectively erased the slavery 00:13:57.460 --> 00:14:00.419 aspect of the mammy character and replaced it 00:14:00.419 --> 00:14:02.539 with a capitalist success story, even though 00:14:02.539 --> 00:14:04.519 the character herself was still depicted as a 00:14:04.519 --> 00:14:06.899 servant in the advertising. It sanitized the 00:14:06.899 --> 00:14:10.259 history. It allowed white consumers to feel benevolent. 00:14:10.279 --> 00:14:13.059 By buying this pancake mix, I'm helping Aunt 00:14:13.059 --> 00:14:16.279 Jemima get her new clothes. It assuaged any guilt. 00:14:16.419 --> 00:14:18.740 It was a masterclass in psychological marketing. 00:14:18.960 --> 00:14:21.519 OK, so that's the myth. That's the fiction. But 00:14:21.519 --> 00:14:23.379 unlike Betty Crocker, who was a composite drawing, 00:14:23.720 --> 00:14:26.340 Aunt Jemima was played by real women. And this 00:14:26.340 --> 00:14:28.860 is where the story gets incredibly human and 00:14:28.860 --> 00:14:31.019 tragic. We have to talk about Nancy Green. Nancy 00:14:31.019 --> 00:14:33.320 Green is the original. If you think about the 00:14:33.320 --> 00:14:35.940 brand's explosion, it is largely due to her charisma. 00:14:36.259 --> 00:14:38.580 She was born into slavery in Montgomery County, 00:14:38.720 --> 00:14:41.799 Kentucky in 1834. So she had lived the reality 00:14:41.799 --> 00:14:44.559 that the brand was fantasizing about. She had. 00:14:44.759 --> 00:14:47.600 She moved to Chicago after the war and was working 00:14:47.600 --> 00:14:50.399 as a cook for a judge. a respected figure in 00:14:50.399 --> 00:14:53.480 her community. Her big break came at the 1893 00:14:53.480 --> 00:14:57.019 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. We have 00:14:57.019 --> 00:14:59.559 to set the scene for the 1893 World's Fair. This 00:14:59.559 --> 00:15:01.940 wasn't just a county fair. This was the white 00:15:01.940 --> 00:15:04.639 city. This was a major global event. It was arguably 00:15:04.639 --> 00:15:06.980 the most important cultural event of the 19th 00:15:06.980 --> 00:15:08.940 century in America. It was designed to show the 00:15:08.940 --> 00:15:11.240 world that America had arrived. Electricity, 00:15:11.240 --> 00:15:13.799 architecture, the first Ferris wheel. And the 00:15:13.799 --> 00:15:16.960 Davis Melling Company had a huge idea for a stunt. 00:15:17.220 --> 00:15:19.659 Literally huge. built a flower barrel that was 00:15:19.659 --> 00:15:22.639 24 feet high. A giant flower barrel pavilion. 00:15:22.799 --> 00:15:24.940 And standing outside was Nancy Green. She was 00:15:24.940 --> 00:15:27.539 59 years old. She was dressed in the full costume 00:15:27.539 --> 00:15:30.379 apron, headscarf. And she just worked. She cooked 00:15:30.379 --> 00:15:32.799 pancakes by the thousands, she sang songs, and 00:15:32.799 --> 00:15:34.399 she told stories about the old South. Pies in 00:15:34.399 --> 00:15:37.360 town, honey. That was the slogan. That was the 00:15:37.360 --> 00:15:40.440 catchphrase. And she was magnetic. She was a 00:15:40.440 --> 00:15:43.460 massive hit. You have to realize, she was arguably 00:15:43.460 --> 00:15:45.960 the first black corporate model in the United 00:15:45.960 --> 00:15:48.740 States. She gave the brand a heartbeat. Police 00:15:48.740 --> 00:15:50.840 had to be called in to control the crowds around 00:15:50.840 --> 00:15:53.639 her booth. She was a superstar. A genuine celebrity. 00:15:54.159 --> 00:15:56.299 She received a medal and a certificate from the 00:15:56.299 --> 00:15:58.539 fair organizers. She was offered a lifetime contract. 00:15:58.879 --> 00:16:01.379 But there is a really stark contrast happening 00:16:01.379 --> 00:16:03.639 at that same fair. Because while Nancy Green 00:16:03.639 --> 00:16:06.039 is performing this happy slave role for crowds, 00:16:06.299 --> 00:16:09.799 who else is in Chicago? Ida B. Wells. the legendary 00:16:09.799 --> 00:16:12.480 journalist and anti -lynching crusader. She was 00:16:12.480 --> 00:16:14.379 there, along with Frederick Douglass and other 00:16:14.379 --> 00:16:16.919 progressive black leaders, protesting the fair. 00:16:17.080 --> 00:16:19.080 Why were they protesting? They were handing out 00:16:19.080 --> 00:16:22.000 pamphlets titled The Reason Why the Colored American 00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:25.120 is Not in the World's Columbian Exposition. They 00:16:25.120 --> 00:16:27.620 were furious because the fair organizers had 00:16:27.620 --> 00:16:31.529 largely excluded black achievement. So no black 00:16:31.529 --> 00:16:33.870 inventor scientists. Exactly. They weren't showing 00:16:33.870 --> 00:16:36.470 black inventors or poets or doctors. They were 00:16:36.470 --> 00:16:39.129 showing primitive villages from Africa and they 00:16:39.129 --> 00:16:41.690 were showing Nancy Green making pancakes. That 00:16:41.690 --> 00:16:44.250 was the extent of black representation. So you 00:16:44.250 --> 00:16:46.710 have Ida B. Wells saying we are intellectuals 00:16:46.710 --> 00:16:49.669 and creators. And just a few hundred yards away, 00:16:49.990 --> 00:16:52.529 corporate America is saying, look at this happy 00:16:52.529 --> 00:16:55.110 Aunt Jemima. It perfectly captures the struggle 00:16:55.110 --> 00:16:58.139 of that era. Progressive black women saw Aunt 00:16:58.139 --> 00:17:00.799 Jemima as a mammy for the national household. 00:17:01.019 --> 00:17:04.380 They hated it. They saw it as validating the 00:17:04.380 --> 00:17:06.900 idea that black people were natural servants. 00:17:07.160 --> 00:17:09.779 It was a battle for the soul of black representation, 00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:12.460 and Nancy Green was right in the middle of it. 00:17:12.670 --> 00:17:16.250 But for Nancy Green, this was a job, a good job 00:17:16.250 --> 00:17:18.509 by the standards of the time for a black woman. 00:17:18.670 --> 00:17:20.910 A very good job. It gave her financial security. 00:17:21.230 --> 00:17:23.990 She used her platform to advocate for anti -poverty 00:17:23.990 --> 00:17:26.450 programs in Chicago. She was a key figure at 00:17:26.450 --> 00:17:28.509 her church, Olivet Baptist Church. She was not 00:17:28.509 --> 00:17:30.670 a passive victim. But did she get rich from this? 00:17:30.789 --> 00:17:33.470 The paper dolls said the family got rich. Nancy 00:17:33.470 --> 00:17:35.589 Green did not get rich in the way the company 00:17:35.589 --> 00:17:37.990 owners did. Not even close. She had a steady 00:17:37.990 --> 00:17:41.170 job. She had fame. But here is the heartbreaking 00:17:41.170 --> 00:17:44.980 detail. She died in 1923 in a car crash on the 00:17:44.980 --> 00:17:48.160 streets of Chicago. A truck collided with a laundry 00:17:48.160 --> 00:17:50.579 wagon and it overturned on the sidewalk where 00:17:50.579 --> 00:17:52.960 she was standing. And her burial? She was buried 00:17:52.960 --> 00:17:56.259 in a pauper's grave, unmarked, in Chicago's Oakwood 00:17:56.259 --> 00:17:59.460 Cemetery. That is devastating. The face of a 00:17:59.460 --> 00:18:03.019 global brand, a Chicago celebrity, buried without 00:18:03.019 --> 00:18:06.279 a headstone. It took until 2020, nearly 100 years 00:18:06.279 --> 00:18:09.440 later, for a headstone to finally be placed for 00:18:09.440 --> 00:18:12.559 her by a historical society. It really highlights 00:18:12.559 --> 00:18:14.880 the gap between the value she created for the 00:18:14.880 --> 00:18:17.019 company and the value the society placed on her 00:18:17.019 --> 00:18:19.660 as a person. She even refused to go to Paris 00:18:19.660 --> 00:18:22.140 for the 1900 exhibition. She did. She had leverage 00:18:22.140 --> 00:18:23.700 and she used it. But at the end of her life, 00:18:23.799 --> 00:18:25.519 the system still failed her. And she wasn't the 00:18:25.519 --> 00:18:27.119 only one. There were many women who played this 00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:29.700 role over the years. Dozens. Once the company 00:18:29.700 --> 00:18:32.619 saw how well Nancy Green worked, they hired actresses 00:18:32.619 --> 00:18:34.759 regionally to do cooking demos at grocery stores 00:18:34.759 --> 00:18:37.599 and county fairs. But the next big national figure 00:18:37.599 --> 00:18:40.160 was Lillian Richard. And she has a very different 00:18:40.160 --> 00:18:42.220 story, geographically at least. Yes. She was 00:18:42.220 --> 00:18:45.400 hired in 1925. She was from Texas. She portrayed 00:18:45.400 --> 00:18:48.519 the character for 23 years. And this is where 00:18:48.519 --> 00:18:51.079 we start to see the local pride aspect. Right. 00:18:51.180 --> 00:18:54.079 Her hometown of Hawkins, Texas, is actually known 00:18:54.079 --> 00:18:56.740 as the pancake capital of Texas. Because of her. 00:18:56.859 --> 00:18:59.220 Specifically because of her. The local chamber 00:18:59.220 --> 00:19:01.940 of commerce leans into it. Her family is incredibly 00:19:01.940 --> 00:19:05.140 proud of her legacy. For them, she was a star. 00:19:05.279 --> 00:19:07.460 She was traveling. She was earning money. She 00:19:07.460 --> 00:19:09.660 was representing her community on a national 00:19:09.660 --> 00:19:11.920 stage. This is going to be very important when 00:19:11.920 --> 00:19:13.660 we get to the end of this story. That pride, 00:19:13.940 --> 00:19:16.539 yeah. But before that, we have to talk about 00:19:16.539 --> 00:19:19.119 Anna Robinson. Because if Nancy Green established 00:19:19.119 --> 00:19:21.920 the character, Anna Robinson defined the look 00:19:21.920 --> 00:19:24.480 that most people remember from the mid -20th 00:19:24.480 --> 00:19:27.099 century. Right. Anna Robinson was hired for the 00:19:27.099 --> 00:19:30.339 1933 Chicago World's Fair, another World's Fair, 00:19:30.460 --> 00:19:34.099 another pivotal moment. Physically, she was different 00:19:34.099 --> 00:19:36.220 from the previous models. She was much heavier. 00:19:36.380 --> 00:19:39.519 She weighed about 350 pounds. Which fit the stereotype 00:19:39.519 --> 00:19:41.819 more closely. The visual stereotype, anyway. 00:19:42.019 --> 00:19:44.819 Exactly. The company, which was Quaker Oats by 00:19:44.819 --> 00:19:48.220 this point, wanted that plump, motherly look. 00:19:48.380 --> 00:19:51.200 They felt Nancy Green was too slender. They wanted 00:19:51.200 --> 00:19:53.960 the full caricature. And they leaned hard into 00:19:53.960 --> 00:19:56.160 the celebrity angle with her. This is the part 00:19:56.160 --> 00:19:58.859 with the nightclubs. Yes. There are photos of 00:19:58.859 --> 00:20:02.039 Anna Robinson making pancakes at El Morocco and 00:20:02.039 --> 00:20:04.660 the Stork Club in New York. Wait, El Morocco? 00:20:04.859 --> 00:20:07.720 Like the high society nightclub where Bogart 00:20:07.720 --> 00:20:10.819 and McCall would hang out? The very same. Imagine 00:20:10.819 --> 00:20:14.049 the scene is the 1930s or 40s. You have the absolute 00:20:14.049 --> 00:20:16.970 elite of New York society movie stars, Broadway 00:20:16.970 --> 00:20:20.690 legends, tycoons in tuxedos and gowns. And there 00:20:20.690 --> 00:20:23.289 was Anna Robinson in her costume serving them 00:20:23.289 --> 00:20:25.369 pancakes. She was part of the glitterati scene, 00:20:25.549 --> 00:20:27.789 but as a prop. Completely. She was atmosphere. 00:20:27.930 --> 00:20:29.970 And the company put out this narrative that she 00:20:29.970 --> 00:20:31.769 was living the high life, just like the people 00:20:31.769 --> 00:20:34.390 she served. They claimed she lived in a 22 -room 00:20:34.390 --> 00:20:36.470 mansion. They did. They said she was essentially 00:20:36.470 --> 00:20:39.200 American royalty. a celebrity chef before the 00:20:39.200 --> 00:20:41.500 term existed. But you dug into the census records. 00:20:41.660 --> 00:20:44.519 What was the truth? The 1940 census is the source 00:20:44.519 --> 00:20:47.140 of truth here. It shows she rented an apartment 00:20:47.140 --> 00:20:50.160 in a four -flat in Washington Park on Chicago's 00:20:50.160 --> 00:20:52.119 South Side. She lived there with her daughter 00:20:52.119 --> 00:20:54.740 and grandchildren. Her total payment in 1939 00:20:54.740 --> 00:20:58.160 was reported as $1 ,200. Okay, doing some quick 00:20:58.160 --> 00:21:01.559 inflation math, $1 ,200 in 1939 is about $26 00:21:01.559 --> 00:21:05.140 ,000 or $27 ,000 in today's money. Right. It 00:21:05.140 --> 00:21:07.740 is barely a living wage. It certainly isn't 22 00:21:07.740 --> 00:21:10.880 -room mansion money. She died poor. The disparity 00:21:10.880 --> 00:21:13.119 between the image of abundance she projected 00:21:13.119 --> 00:21:15.700 and the scarcity she lived in lived in is staggering. 00:21:15.940 --> 00:21:17.740 It was performance in every sense of the word. 00:21:17.839 --> 00:21:19.539 There were others too, right? Just to show the 00:21:19.539 --> 00:21:21.400 scale of this. Oh, yes. There was Edith Wilson. 00:21:21.799 --> 00:21:23.759 She's interesting because she was already a star. 00:21:23.880 --> 00:21:26.779 She was a classic blues singer and actress. She 00:21:26.779 --> 00:21:28.599 played the character on radio and in the first 00:21:28.599 --> 00:21:30.859 TV commercials. She was the first Aunt Jemima 00:21:30.859 --> 00:21:33.519 to really step into the mass media age. And then 00:21:33.519 --> 00:21:35.839 Aileen Lewis at Disneyland. This one feels like 00:21:35.839 --> 00:21:38.420 a fever dream. It really does. Aunt Jemima's 00:21:38.420 --> 00:21:42.079 Pancake House in Frontierland. It opened in 1955. 00:21:43.019 --> 00:21:45.579 Aileen Lewis would serve dignitaries there. There's 00:21:45.579 --> 00:21:47.819 a story of her serving Jawaharlal Nehru, the 00:21:47.819 --> 00:21:50.160 Prime Minister of India. That is a surreal image. 00:21:50.380 --> 00:21:53.339 The Prime Minister of India being served pancakes 00:21:53.339 --> 00:21:55.640 by a woman playing a caricature of an American 00:21:55.640 --> 00:21:59.220 slave in a theme park built by Walt Disney. It 00:21:59.220 --> 00:22:01.380 speaks to how deeply embedded this character 00:22:01.380 --> 00:22:04.319 was in the American cultural fabric. It wasn't 00:22:04.319 --> 00:22:07.059 just a logo. It was an institution. It was considered 00:22:07.059 --> 00:22:09.559 wholesome. The last living Aunt Jemima was a 00:22:09.559 --> 00:22:12.160 woman named Rosie Lee Moore Hall, right? Yes. 00:22:12.380 --> 00:22:15.259 She was hired by an advertising agency to portray 00:22:15.259 --> 00:22:17.539 the character, and she worked for Quaker until 00:22:17.539 --> 00:22:21.000 her death in 1967. After that, they stopped using 00:22:21.000 --> 00:22:23.700 a live model as the main face of the brand. So 00:22:23.700 --> 00:22:25.859 that institution wasn't just cultural, it was 00:22:25.859 --> 00:22:28.480 legal. This is one of the most surprising things 00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:31.000 I found in the research, the Aunt Jemima doctrine. 00:22:31.160 --> 00:22:33.440 I had no idea this brand actually changed the 00:22:33.440 --> 00:22:36.359 law. Yes. If you are a lawyer or a law student, 00:22:36.579 --> 00:22:39.160 you might know this case. Aunt Jemima Mills Company 00:22:39.160 --> 00:22:43.099 v. Rigney & Co. from 1917. It fundamentally changed 00:22:43.099 --> 00:22:45.660 trademark law in the United States. Set the scene 00:22:45.660 --> 00:22:48.920 for us. What was the law before 1915? Before 00:22:48.920 --> 00:22:52.000 this ruling, trademark protection was very narrow. 00:22:52.079 --> 00:22:55.720 It was based on the idea of passing off. You 00:22:55.720 --> 00:22:58.240 only infringed on a trademark if you sold the 00:22:58.240 --> 00:23:00.240 exact same product and tried to trick people. 00:23:00.380 --> 00:23:02.599 So if I sold Host Speaker's flour, you couldn't 00:23:02.599 --> 00:23:05.079 sell Host Speaker's flour. Right, but you could 00:23:05.079 --> 00:23:07.940 sell Host Speaker's syrup because flour and syrup 00:23:07.940 --> 00:23:10.359 are different products. The law didn't see a 00:23:10.359 --> 00:23:13.359 connection. That seems simplistic, but I guess 00:23:13.359 --> 00:23:16.259 in a smaller economy, it made sense. Right. So 00:23:16.259 --> 00:23:19.559 the Aunt Jemima company sued a rival, Rigney 00:23:19.559 --> 00:23:22.240 & Co., who was selling pancake syrup under the 00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:24.819 name Aunt Jemima with a similar logo. And the 00:23:24.819 --> 00:23:27.119 lower court threw the case out. They did. They 00:23:27.119 --> 00:23:29.039 followed the old rule. They said flowers, flowers, 00:23:29.220 --> 00:23:32.559 syrup is syrup. No confusion. Case closed. But 00:23:32.559 --> 00:23:35.359 Aunt Jemima appealed. They did. And the Second 00:23:35.359 --> 00:23:37.700 Circuit Court reversed the ruling. They created 00:23:37.700 --> 00:23:40.230 a new legal theory. They said that because flour 00:23:40.230 --> 00:23:42.569 and syrup are commonly used together, they're 00:23:42.569 --> 00:23:45.430 related goods, consumers would assume they came 00:23:45.430 --> 00:23:48.269 from the same source. So using the name on a 00:23:48.269 --> 00:23:50.589 related product could damage the reputation of 00:23:50.589 --> 00:23:53.450 the original. Precisely. Therefore, the brand 00:23:53.450 --> 00:23:56.369 protection extends to the syrup, too. This became 00:23:56.369 --> 00:23:58.890 known as the Aunt Jemima Doctrine. So it set 00:23:58.890 --> 00:24:00.809 the precedent for modern trademark protection 00:24:00.809 --> 00:24:03.930 across related goods. It did. It acknowledged 00:24:03.930 --> 00:24:06.710 that a brand is more than just the specific product. 00:24:06.809 --> 00:24:10.269 It's the reputation. It's the goodwill. It's 00:24:10.269 --> 00:24:12.349 why Coca -Cola can stop you from making Coca 00:24:12.349 --> 00:24:14.390 -Cola sneakers, even though they don't sell sneakers. 00:24:14.910 --> 00:24:17.630 That all goes back to a case about pancake mix. 00:24:17.849 --> 00:24:19.829 So the happy slave narrative didn't just sell 00:24:19.829 --> 00:24:22.190 pancakes. It helped write the rules of American 00:24:22.190 --> 00:24:24.609 capitalism regarding intellectual property. It 00:24:24.609 --> 00:24:26.809 connects the dots in a way few other brands do. 00:24:27.119 --> 00:24:30.119 From minstrelsy to marketing to modern law. Now 00:24:30.119 --> 00:24:32.119 let's fast forward a bit. The image didn't stay 00:24:32.119 --> 00:24:35.500 frozen in 1890. As America changed, the brand 00:24:35.500 --> 00:24:39.400 tried to adapt. Slowly. Painfully slowly. For 00:24:39.400 --> 00:24:42.039 decades, it was a heavy caricature. Very dark 00:24:42.039 --> 00:24:44.740 skin, exaggerated features, straight out of the 00:24:44.740 --> 00:24:46.819 minstrel poster. But over time, they tried to 00:24:46.819 --> 00:24:49.799 soften it. In 1968... They slimmed her down. 00:24:49.920 --> 00:24:52.579 This is during the civil rights era, so that's 00:24:52.579 --> 00:24:55.119 not a coincidence. Absolutely not. They gave 00:24:55.119 --> 00:24:57.359 her a white collar and a geometric headband. 00:24:57.539 --> 00:25:00.380 It still looked like a kerchief, but it was stylized. 00:25:00.559 --> 00:25:02.279 They were trying to make her look less like a 00:25:02.279 --> 00:25:04.200 plantation cook and more like a modern domestic 00:25:04.200 --> 00:25:07.559 servant. A subtle but important shift. And then 00:25:07.559 --> 00:25:10.380 the big change in 1989, the 100th anniversary. 00:25:10.799 --> 00:25:12.980 That was the Pearl era. They removed the head 00:25:12.980 --> 00:25:16.430 covering completely. That was huge. The kerchief 00:25:16.430 --> 00:25:20.329 was the primary signifier of the mammy or the 00:25:20.329 --> 00:25:22.650 enslaved woman. It was the most criticized part 00:25:22.650 --> 00:25:25.130 of the image. By far. They took it off, gave 00:25:25.130 --> 00:25:27.690 her wavy gray streaked hair, pearl earrings, 00:25:27.869 --> 00:25:30.269 and a lace collar. Quaker called it a more sophisticated 00:25:30.269 --> 00:25:33.190 look. Contemporary was the word they used. They 00:25:33.190 --> 00:25:36.349 were trying to pivot from servant to grandmotherly 00:25:36.349 --> 00:25:39.299 figure, but the name remained. And the history 00:25:39.299 --> 00:25:41.480 remained. You can put pearls on the image, but 00:25:41.480 --> 00:25:43.539 it's still named after a minstrel song about 00:25:43.539 --> 00:25:46.140 a slave. And that tension didn't go unnoticed. 00:25:46.279 --> 00:25:48.059 Artists and activists had been pointing this 00:25:48.059 --> 00:25:50.039 out for decades. Absolutely. We have to talk 00:25:50.039 --> 00:25:52.960 about Betisar. She is a legendary artist. In 00:25:52.960 --> 00:25:55.900 1972, she created a piece called The Liberation 00:25:55.900 --> 00:25:58.140 of Aunt Jemima. Describe that for us. It's a 00:25:58.140 --> 00:26:01.180 very confronting image. It is a mixed media assemblage. 00:26:01.660 --> 00:26:04.039 She took one of those stereotypical Aunt Jemima 00:26:04.039 --> 00:26:06.470 notepad holders. the kind you'd hang in a kitchen, 00:26:06.589 --> 00:26:09.789 and she placed it inside a box lined with the 00:26:09.789 --> 00:26:12.930 brand's imagery. Okay. But she armed her. She 00:26:12.930 --> 00:26:15.069 put a rifle in one hand and a hand grenade in 00:26:15.069 --> 00:26:18.289 the other. In front of her is a large, clenched, 00:26:18.369 --> 00:26:22.029 black power fist. Wow. Talk about subverting 00:26:22.029 --> 00:26:24.470 the submissive narrative. It was a powerful statement. 00:26:24.809 --> 00:26:27.410 It transformed the mammy from a passive servant 00:26:27.410 --> 00:26:30.710 into a revolutionary. It forced people to look 00:26:30.710 --> 00:26:33.029 at the violence inherent in the stereotype. It 00:26:33.029 --> 00:26:35.869 asked, what if she fought back? It's an iconic 00:26:35.869 --> 00:26:38.329 piece of black feminist art. And then you have 00:26:38.329 --> 00:26:42.190 pop culture in the 90s, public enemy. Burn, Hollywood, 00:26:42.269 --> 00:26:45.009 burn. Big Daddy Kane has that verse. As for playing 00:26:45.009 --> 00:26:47.549 a lawyer, out of the question. For what they 00:26:47.549 --> 00:26:49.990 play, Aunt Jemima is the perfect term. He was 00:26:49.990 --> 00:26:52.589 criticizing how black actors were boxed into 00:26:52.589 --> 00:26:54.990 these subservient roles. The name itself had 00:26:54.990 --> 00:26:57.230 become shorthand for a specific kind of stereotype. 00:26:57.650 --> 00:27:00.349 It had. And it also became a slur. I think that's 00:27:00.349 --> 00:27:02.549 important to acknowledge. It wasn't just a harmless 00:27:02.549 --> 00:27:05.289 brand name. No, it became a weapon. It became 00:27:05.289 --> 00:27:07.490 the female equivalent of calling someone an Uncle 00:27:07.490 --> 00:27:10.609 Tom. It meant you were a sellout or subservient 00:27:10.609 --> 00:27:13.089 to white interests. We saw this used against 00:27:13.089 --> 00:27:15.250 high -profile political figures. Right. It was 00:27:15.250 --> 00:27:17.569 used against Condoleezza Rice when she was Secretary 00:27:17.569 --> 00:27:19.690 of State. Our radio host called her that. He 00:27:19.690 --> 00:27:22.839 did. And more recently, Kamala Harris. When she 00:27:22.839 --> 00:27:25.799 was selected as VP, a mayor in Virginia posted 00:27:25.799 --> 00:27:28.880 a meme referring to her as Aunt Jemima. Which 00:27:28.880 --> 00:27:31.859 led to immediate censures and apologies. Because 00:27:31.859 --> 00:27:34.369 everyone understood what it meant. It wasn't 00:27:34.369 --> 00:27:36.769 a compliment about her cooking. It was a way 00:27:36.769 --> 00:27:39.369 of saying you are a servant. You belong in a 00:27:39.369 --> 00:27:42.250 subservient role. It was a racist and sexist 00:27:42.250 --> 00:27:44.490 attack. So you have this brand that is commercially 00:27:44.490 --> 00:27:47.529 dominant, legally powerful, but culturally radioactive. 00:27:47.890 --> 00:27:50.250 It's a slur. It's a racist caricature, but it's 00:27:50.250 --> 00:27:52.829 also on everyone's breakfast table. Something 00:27:52.829 --> 00:27:55.930 had to give. And 2020 was the breaking point. 00:27:56.049 --> 00:27:58.529 June 17th, 2020. This is right in the middle 00:27:58.529 --> 00:28:01.329 of the George Floyd protest. The country is having 00:28:01.329 --> 00:28:04.180 a massive, painful recognition. with racial justice. 00:28:04.519 --> 00:28:07.960 The context is everything. Quaker Oats, which 00:28:07.960 --> 00:28:09.799 is owned by PepsiCo, makes the announcement. 00:28:10.099 --> 00:28:12.579 They said the brand would be discontinued to 00:28:12.579 --> 00:28:16.380 make progress toward racial equality. They admitted, 00:28:16.579 --> 00:28:19.319 for the first time really, that the brand's origins 00:28:19.319 --> 00:28:21.660 were based on a racial stereotype. And it was 00:28:21.660 --> 00:28:25.160 a domino effect. Immediate. Within 24 hours, 00:28:25.420 --> 00:28:28.339 the owners of Uncle Ben's, Mrs. Butterworth's, 00:28:28.359 --> 00:28:30.940 and Cream of Wheat all announced they were reviewing 00:28:30.940 --> 00:28:34.480 their branding. It was like a damn broke. These 00:28:34.480 --> 00:28:36.319 brands had survived the civil rights movement 00:28:36.319 --> 00:28:39.200 of the 60s, but they couldn't survive 2020. So 00:28:39.200 --> 00:28:42.240 they scrubbed the image, but then came the question 00:28:42.240 --> 00:28:44.539 of name. What do you call it? And this is where 00:28:44.539 --> 00:28:46.799 history comes full circle. In February 2021, 00:28:47.259 --> 00:28:50.059 they announced the new name, Pearl Milling Company. 00:28:50.480 --> 00:28:52.339 Which, as we learned at the start, was the name 00:28:52.339 --> 00:28:54.220 of the original company Rutt & Underwood started 00:28:54.220 --> 00:28:57.839 in 1888. It's a deep cut. It returns the brand 00:28:57.839 --> 00:29:00.319 to the inventors of the technology, rather than 00:29:00.319 --> 00:29:03.420 the caricature used to sell it. It's bland, sure, 00:29:03.599 --> 00:29:05.819 but it's historically accurate to the product's 00:29:05.819 --> 00:29:08.180 origin. But there's a legal twist here too, right? 00:29:08.920 --> 00:29:11.960 I noticed that for a while, the boxes still said 00:29:11.960 --> 00:29:15.920 Aunt Jemima in small print, formerly known as... 00:29:15.920 --> 00:29:18.259 That is the trademark law biting them again. 00:29:18.660 --> 00:29:20.940 PepsiCo explained that if they completely abandoned 00:29:20.940 --> 00:29:23.210 the name immediately... just stopped using it 00:29:23.210 --> 00:29:25.849 entirely, a third party could essentially claim 00:29:25.849 --> 00:29:29.210 trademark abandonment, snap up the rights, and 00:29:29.210 --> 00:29:31.809 start selling a real Aunt Jemima syrup. That 00:29:31.809 --> 00:29:34.410 is wild. They have to keep using it to kill it. 00:29:34.569 --> 00:29:36.390 They have to transition it carefully to keep 00:29:36.390 --> 00:29:38.609 control of the intellectual property so someone 00:29:38.609 --> 00:29:41.329 else doesn't launch a zombie brand using the 00:29:41.329 --> 00:29:43.920 racist imagery. It's a legal minefield. Now, 00:29:43.940 --> 00:29:45.960 here is where it gets really interesting and 00:29:45.960 --> 00:29:48.480 maybe a little unexpected. You would think the 00:29:48.480 --> 00:29:50.460 descendants of the women who played Aunt Jemima, 00:29:50.579 --> 00:29:52.940 Nancy Green, Lillian Richard, Anna Short Harrington, 00:29:53.039 --> 00:29:54.859 you'd think they would be thrilled to see the 00:29:54.859 --> 00:29:57.519 caricature go. You would think. It seems logical. 00:29:58.500 --> 00:30:01.460 But it wasn't that simple. Not at all. Tell us 00:30:01.460 --> 00:30:03.559 about the reaction from the families. Well, let's 00:30:03.559 --> 00:30:06.759 look at Lillian Richard's family. Remember, she's 00:30:06.759 --> 00:30:09.920 the one from the Pancake Chapel of Texas. Vera 00:30:09.920 --> 00:30:13.309 Harris, her family historian. was quoted saying, 00:30:13.509 --> 00:30:15.690 I wish we would take a breath and not just get 00:30:15.690 --> 00:30:18.490 rid of everything. It is our history. It is our 00:30:18.490 --> 00:30:20.670 history. That's powerful. And Lornell Evans, 00:30:21.009 --> 00:30:22.990 who is the great grandson of another one of the 00:30:22.990 --> 00:30:25.589 models, Anna Short Harrington, he was even more 00:30:25.589 --> 00:30:28.609 direct. He sued Quicker Oats, though the lawsuit 00:30:28.609 --> 00:30:31.210 was dismissed. He said, this is an injustice. 00:30:31.609 --> 00:30:34.849 This is part of my history. Explain that tension. 00:30:35.519 --> 00:30:38.900 Why would they want to keep a brand rooted in 00:30:38.900 --> 00:30:41.640 a happy slave narrative? Because for these families. 00:30:42.109 --> 00:30:43.789 The women weren't caricatures. They were their 00:30:43.789 --> 00:30:45.750 grandmothers, their great aunts. They were pioneers. 00:30:46.049 --> 00:30:48.069 Right. You have to imagine the context of the 00:30:48.069 --> 00:30:50.849 early 20th century. For a black woman to be nationally 00:30:50.849 --> 00:30:53.789 famous, to travel, to be the face of a major 00:30:53.789 --> 00:30:56.670 corporation, that was virtually impossible. It's 00:30:56.670 --> 00:30:58.650 an achievement, a real one. It was a massive 00:30:58.650 --> 00:31:00.369 achievement. They took a role that was designed 00:31:00.369 --> 00:31:02.809 to mock them, and they infused it with dignity 00:31:02.809 --> 00:31:05.190 and professionalism. They used the money to support 00:31:05.190 --> 00:31:07.619 their families. They became local heroes. So 00:31:07.619 --> 00:31:10.119 by erasing the brand, the families feel like 00:31:10.119 --> 00:31:12.859 the company is erasing their ancestors' success. 00:31:13.279 --> 00:31:15.980 Exactly. It feels like erasing the evidence that 00:31:15.980 --> 00:31:17.740 they were there. It's a double -edged sword. 00:31:17.980 --> 00:31:21.400 The image is painful for society, but the erasure 00:31:21.400 --> 00:31:24.220 is painful for the descendants. It's a really 00:31:24.220 --> 00:31:26.700 complex emotional position for them to be in. 00:31:26.839 --> 00:31:28.880 It's the nuance that gets lost in a press release. 00:31:29.220 --> 00:31:31.539 You're removing a racist symbol, but you're also 00:31:31.539 --> 00:31:34.539 removing the only monument these women had. Which 00:31:34.539 --> 00:31:36.299 is why the work of people like those fighting 00:31:36.299 --> 00:31:38.240 for Nancy Green's headstone is so important. 00:31:38.420 --> 00:31:40.880 If the brand goes away, we have to find other 00:31:40.880 --> 00:31:42.779 ways to remember the women. We have to separate 00:31:42.779 --> 00:31:44.980 the actors from the role. We have to tell their 00:31:44.980 --> 00:31:47.509 stories. It reminds me of Hattie McDaniel winning 00:31:47.509 --> 00:31:50.269 the Oscar for Gone with the Wind. She played 00:31:50.269 --> 00:31:52.750 a mammy, a stereotype, but she broke a barrier 00:31:52.750 --> 00:31:55.630 to do it. And she famously said, I'd rather play 00:31:55.630 --> 00:31:58.950 a maid than be one. It is the exact same tension. 00:31:59.309 --> 00:32:01.930 Do you celebrate the barrier breaking or do you 00:32:01.930 --> 00:32:04.430 condemn the role that required it? The answer 00:32:04.430 --> 00:32:06.950 is usually you have to do both. You have to hold 00:32:06.950 --> 00:32:09.490 both thoughts at the same time. So we have gone 00:32:09.490 --> 00:32:13.230 from a surplus of flour in a Missouri mill to 00:32:13.230 --> 00:32:17.049 a minstrel show to a giant barrel in Chicago 00:32:17.049 --> 00:32:21.690 to a trademark revolution and finally to a bland 00:32:21.690 --> 00:32:24.930 box that says Pearl Milling Company. It is a 00:32:24.930 --> 00:32:27.380 journey. And I think it shows that consumer goods 00:32:27.380 --> 00:32:29.839 are never just goods. They are artifacts of the 00:32:29.839 --> 00:32:31.539 culture that made them. They're like little time 00:32:31.539 --> 00:32:33.640 capsules. That bottle on the table wasn't just 00:32:33.640 --> 00:32:35.920 syrup. It was a story about how America wanted 00:32:35.920 --> 00:32:38.480 to see itself. And how it hid the parts it didn't 00:32:38.480 --> 00:32:41.549 want to see. The happy slave propaganda was a 00:32:41.549 --> 00:32:43.849 way to consume the labor of black women without 00:32:43.849 --> 00:32:45.849 having to acknowledge their suffering or their 00:32:45.849 --> 00:32:47.890 citizenship. But it also gave women like Nancy 00:32:47.890 --> 00:32:50.450 Green and Lillian Richard a stage. A stage they 00:32:50.450 --> 00:32:52.589 shouldn't have needed, but a stage they used 00:32:52.589 --> 00:32:55.390 nonetheless. And they used it with grace and 00:32:55.390 --> 00:32:58.289 power in a world that gave them very few options. 00:32:58.609 --> 00:33:00.769 So here is my question for you to chew on as 00:33:00.769 --> 00:33:02.269 you go about your day. We looked at the syrup 00:33:02.269 --> 00:33:04.829 bottle, but look around your kitchen. Look at 00:33:04.829 --> 00:33:07.470 your pantry. Look at the brands you trust. How 00:33:07.470 --> 00:33:10.230 many other traditions or nostalgic items in your 00:33:10.230 --> 00:33:12.990 daily life are rooted in constructed histories? 00:33:13.430 --> 00:33:15.470 How many are selling you a story you've never 00:33:15.470 --> 00:33:18.130 really questioned? We love heritage brands. We 00:33:18.130 --> 00:33:20.769 love things that feel old and authentic. But 00:33:20.769 --> 00:33:23.329 often, that authenticity is just a marketing 00:33:23.329 --> 00:33:26.470 campaign from 1890 designed to sell you a worldview 00:33:26.470 --> 00:33:28.789 along with your breakfast. And when those brands 00:33:28.789 --> 00:33:32.390 disappear or change, do we lose the history, 00:33:32.509 --> 00:33:35.150 the good and the bad? Or does it finally free 00:33:35.150 --> 00:33:37.359 us to create something new? Something to think 00:33:37.359 --> 00:33:39.359 about the next time you pour syrup on your pancakes. 00:33:39.619 --> 00:33:41.359 Thanks for diving deep with us. See you next 00:33:41.359 --> 00:33:41.579 time.