In 1955, ads for a series of mail order "Face" or "Girl" aprons appeared in
Newspapers across the US. This "Mammy" or Aunt Jemima face apron was
available through Laura Wheeler and Alice Brooks pattern companies. For
twenty-five cents you could have this pattern delivered directly to your
door.
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1950's Aunt Jemima Apron Pattern |
What strikes me as curious is that the same face apron was also issued but with a fair skinned "Girl" represented in the newspaper ad. 1955 was the year Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to vacate her seat in the front of the bus in Montgomery Alabama, which was the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement in America. Odd that these images, which are such blatant stereotypes, would be so available.
Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia at Ferris State University |
But the "Jim Crow Mammy" image had been in use since the 1800's as a commercial identity for selling a vast array of household goods from baking soda to coffee to dishes and linens. It was in the late 1940's when Quaker Oats enlisted their third Aunt Jemima, an image that would become a American Icon. The more recent figure of Aunt Jemima is a much altered figure from the earlier version and certainly less racist.
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