Pearl Milling Company

Um, okay.

Uh, Aunt Jemima, now called Pearl Milling.

No.

Fake.

They were dressed as a stereotypical mammy archetype, which did eventually end in the 50s under pressure from the civil rights movement at large.

But the company kept the logo and name for a while until it officially died in June 2020, when the company itself rebranded to Pearl Milling Company and then replaced the entire logo with just like an image of a historic mill.

So it's really, really changed, but was pretty recognizable for a while.

I think really interesting too that Antrimine was brought to life with real life actresses that kind of like really emphasize a little bit of its problematic roots.

Everybody, anybody, whoever comes on to this show and we talk about cooking versus baking, I always say that, you know, cooking, you can be more whimsical and really creative.

you know change things as you go but baking is so much more of a science and you kind of have one opportunity to do it and hope for the best and then after it's baked it's it's done there's not much more you can you can do now while chemistry helped create the modern pancake industry helps spread it everywhere in 1889 the pearl milling company introduced one of the earliest commercial pancake mixes in the united states and jemima pancake flour.

The product gained national attention during the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, aka the Chicago's World Fair, where visitors were served pancakes made from the mix.

One of the people who helped popularize the product was Nancy Green.

The company also expanded the product line.

Now, jumping ahead if you're thinking, I haven't seen that brand recently.

Well, in 2021, it was announced by PepsiCo and its subsidiary, Quaker Oats, that Aunt Jemima pancake mix and syrup brand would be renamed Pearl Milling Company, going back to the original company name.

The decision followed years of criticism that the Aunt Jemima name and imagery were rooted in racist stereotypes.

I just had some like Walmart syrup and I think like I'm having a, I have diabetes and it's really rattled my cage.

Why are you buying no name brand syrup? Just get the Aunt Jemima or the Pearl Harbor.

Is it called

Mrs. Butterworth?

I'm going to check it right now.

i'm

telling you yeah pearl mining pearl milling company milling milling milling mining

sorry you lose man

Yeah.

Now it's Pearl Milling Company.

Yeah.

Mm.

would you bring back Aunt Jemima or Uncle Ben?

I mean, the way the flavor is tasting right now, I don't like the Pearl Milling Company.

I'm not a fan of the Pearl Milling Company.

I will leave it at that.

No, it was home.

So

honestly, I have some, what is it, Pearl Bailey or Pearl Milling Company right here in my cabinet.

And I still feel like on one hand, I 100% understand why it was removed.

And I also understand folks opposite black folks who I've spoken to and seen talk about their opposition to the renaming because we know that she was a real person.