children. This allows the Masters wife to have freedom .
from everyday chores and the responsibility of raising .
her children, all she has to do is keep her husband happy .
and interested, which is easier to do if the other women .
in the house is not sexualized. The stereotype of the .
mammy was created by the white owners to justify the .
treatment of African American women. The Mammy is always .
has a big grin on her face or is seen singing a happy .
tune when she is doing her chores to show an image of .
happiness. This happiness is to have the public believe .
that the slaves were happy doing their jobs and did not .
mind being a slave but actually like it. This same image .
would soon be used to sell pancakes.
How did this stereotype of the mammy become a woman .
on the box of pancakes known as Aunt Jemima? There are .
many stories that Quaker Oats, the company that produced .
Aunt Jemima, has been telling over the years about how .
she became the person with the best pancakes and sold her .
recipe to them. The book Slave in a Box explains the .
first story about Aunt Jemima and her pancakes. "Aunt .
Jemima was the loyal cook for Louisiana's Colonel Higbee, .
a prosperous planter on the Mississippi. Her pancakes .
were the envy of the region, but she would not share .
her secret recipe. During the Civil War, Union soldiers .
were threatening to rip Higbee's moustache off his face .
when Aunt Jemima interceded, offering the northerners .
pancakes, and the colonel was to escape. According to the .
legend the northerners never forgot the taste of the most .
delicious pancakes in the world. After Higbee's .
death some of them persuaded Aunt Jemima to come upriver .
and share her secret with the world." Even thought this .
is what the company Quaker oats promoted how the .
birth of Aunt Jemima happened this is not how it happened .
at all. What really happened was that R.T. Davis was .
looking for a new way to promote this product .
effectively. He stumbled upon what would be known as Aunt .
