Nancy Green was born in slavery on November 17, 1834 in Montgomery County, Kentucky. Now, you may be wondering, "What does a slave in the 1800s have to do with pancakes?!?!"
Chris Rutt and Charles Underwood came up with a formula for "ready-mixed, self-rising pancake flour." However, Rutt and Underwood found themselves in a very competitive business. There were plenty of other men trying to have the best product and produce a great image for their products. Eventually, they went broke. They were forced to go out of business, shut down their mills, and sell the formula to the Davis Milling Company.
Mr. Davis was on the lookout for a black woman to be the spokesperson for his new product. While in Chicago, he came across our old friend, Nancy Green. At this point, Nancy Green was 56 and somewhat heavyset.
Mr. Davis hired Green to work at a booth at the Chicago's World Fair in 1893 as the spokeswoman. She worked the exhibition booth by making thousands of pancakes and demonstrating the mix.
"The Davis Milling Company received over 50,000 orders, and Fair officials awarded Nancy Green a medal and certificate for her showmanship."
Davis hit the jackpot. Nancy Green was proclaimed to be the "Pancake Queen." She would then tour around the country, becoming the first and only "Pancake Rockstar."
Now the question on your mind must be, "if she is so famous, why have I never heard of her?" YOU HAVE! Rutt and Underwood came up with a name for their product. The pancake mix was to become known as "Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix." When Nancy Green became spokeswoman for Davis, she took on the name of Aunt Jemima and became spokeswoman for LIFE! She toured around the country doing promotional tours until September 23, 1923, when she unfortunately died in a car crash in Chicago.
The only unanswered question is, "why is Nancy Green not known?" Some people think it is because the idea of an "ex-slave" as an advertisement would be a major downturn for sales. Maybe it was just because she had a nickname and she was more popularly known as Aunt Jemima? Who knows?
Truth or Fallacy?
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