Sign-In
Cart
Slave in a Box: The Strange Career of Aunt Jemima
Paperback
Series: American South
AccountingBlack American StudiesWomen's Studies
ISBN13: 9780813918112
Publisher: University of Virginia Press
Published: Mar 5 1998
Pages: 210
Weight: 0.78
Height: 0.64 Width: 6.12 Depth: 9.07
Language: English
The figure of the mammy occupies a central place in the lore of the Old South and has long been used to ullustrate distinct social phenomena, including racial oppression and class identity. In the early twentieth century, the mammy became immortalized as Aunt Jemima, the spokesperson for a line of ready-mixed breakfast products. Although Aunt Jemima has undergone many makeovers over the years, she apparently has not lost her commercial appeal; her face graces more than forty food products nationwide and she still resonates in some form for millions of Americans.
In Slave in a Box, M.M. Manring addresses the vexing question of why the troubling figure of Aunt Jemima has endured in American culture. Manring traces the evolution of the mammy from her roots in the Old South slave reality and mythology, through reinterpretations during Reconstruction and in minstrel shows and turn-of-the-century advertisements, to Aunt Jemima's symbolic role in the Civil Rights movement and her present incarnation as a working grandmother. We learn how advertising entrepreneur James Webb Young, aided by celebrated illustrator N.C. Wyeth, skillfully tapped into nostalgic 1920s perceptions of the South as a culture of white leisure and black labor. Aunt Jemima's ready-mixed products offered middle-class housewives the next best thing to a black servant: a slave in a box that conjured up romantic images of not only the food but also the social hierarchy of the plantation South.
The initial success of the Aunt Jemima brand, Manring reveals, was based on a variety of factors, from lingering attempts to reunite the country after the Civil War to marketing strategies around World War I. Her continued appeal in the late twentieth century is a more complex and disturbing phenomenon we may never fully understand. Manring suggests that by documenting Aunt Jemima's fascinating evolution, however, we can learn important lessons about our collective cultural identity.
Also in
Black American Studies
In Search of the Black Fantastic: Politics and Popular Culture in the Post-Civil Rights Era
Iton, Richard
Paperback
Nothing But Love in God's Water: Volume 1: Black Sacred Music from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement
Darden, Robert
Hardcover
Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America's Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing
Degruy, Joy a.
Paperback
When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America's Black Botanical Legacy
Montgomery, Beronda L.
Hardcover
Decoding the Devil: Black Women Codebreakers and the Secret War Against Stalin's Bomb
Valentine, Sarah
Hardcover
Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement
Davis, Angela Y.
Paperback
How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America
Smith, Clint
Paperback
Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome, Revised Edition: America's Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing
Degruy, Joy a.
Hardcover
Nature Knows No Color-Line: Research into the Negro Ancestry in the White Race
Rogers, J. a.
Paperback
The Delectable Negro: Human Consumption and Homoeroticism Within Us Slave Culture
Woodard, Vincent
Paperback
Sacred Pampering Principles: An African-American Woman's Guide to Self-Care and Inner Renewal
Gandy, Debrena Jackson
Paperback
The Instigators: How Black Women Have Been Essential to American Democracy (and What We Can Learn from Them)
Omara, Atima
Hardcover
A Terrible Strength: The Hidden Crisis of the Black Womb and Your Survival Guide to Healing
Doll, Kemi, MD Mscr
Hardcover
Redeem a Nation: The Century-Long Battle to Restore the Soul of America
Solomon-Simmons, Damario
Hardcover
The African-American Heritage Cookbook: Traditional Recipes and Fond Remembrances from Alabama's Renowned Tuskegee Institute
Tillery, Carolyn Q.
Hardcover
Stories in the Seams: A People's History of Black Quilts and Their Makers
Plummer, Sharbreon
Hardcover
Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood: Nina Simone, Langston Hughes, and the Birth of Black Power
Miller, W. Jason
Hardcover
A Second Sight: How the Wonder and Vision of Black Mediamakers Push America Toward Freedom
Jackson, Sarah J.
Hardcover
The Assassination of Fred Hampton: How the FBI and the Chicago Police Murdered a Black Panther
Haas, Jeffrey
Paperback
This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed: How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible
Cobb, Charles E., Jr.
Paperback
Mindful Meditations for Black Men: Restorative Practices to Soothe Mind, Body, and Spirit
Caraballo, Jor-El
Hardcover
The People Can Fly: American Promise, Black Prodigies, and the Greatest Miracle of All Time
Bennett, Joshua
Hardcover
The Cure for Everything: The Epic Struggle for Public Health and a Radical Vision for Human Thriving
Williams, Michelle A.
Hardcover
The Legend of Wyatt Outlaw: From Reconstruction Through Black Lives Matter
Boggs, Belle
Allen, Sylvester, Jr.
Hardcover
Self-Care for Black Women: 150 Ways to Radically Accept & Prioritize Your Mind, Body, & Soul
Adeeyo, Oludara
Hardcover
Black Film: A History of Black Representation and Participation in the Movies
Walker, David F.
Hardcover
Rooted: The American Legacy of Land Theft and the Modern Movement for Black Land Ownership
Baker, Brea
Hardcover
Africulture: How the Principles, Practices, Plants, and People of African Descent Have Shaped American Agriculture
Carter, Michael, Jr.
Hardcover
The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South
Twitty, Michael W.
Paperback
A High Price for Freedom: Raising Hidden Voices from the African American Past
Ford, Clyde W.
Hardcover
The Vanishing Black Family: How Welfare and Feminism Made Marriage Optional and Children Vulnerable
Squires, Delano
Hardcover
Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America's Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing
Degruy, Joy Angela
Paperback
The Spirit of a Man: A Vision of Transformation for Black Men and the Women Who Love Them
Vanzant, Iyanla
Paperback
How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America
Smith, Clint
Hardcover
From Infinite World: The Sound of the Hammond Organ and the Tragedy of AIDS in the Black Church
Crawley, Ashon Thomas
Hardcover
The Valley of the Dry Bones: The Conditions That Face Black People in America Today
Windsor, Rudolph R.
Paperback
Black Against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party
Martin, Waldo E., Jr.
Bloom, Joshua
Paperback
Black Wall Street: From Riot to Renaissance in Tulsa's Historic Greenwood District
Johnson, Hannibal B.
Paperback
Refusing Compulsory Sexuality: A Black Asexual Lens on Our Sex-Obsessed Culture
Brown, Sherronda J.
Paperback
Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations about Race
Tatum, Beverly Daniel
Paperback
How I Know White People Are Crazy and Other Stories: Notes from a Frustrated Black Psychologist
Lassiter, Jonathan
Hardcover
Voices of Freedom: An Oral History of the Civil Rights Movement from the 1950s Through the 1980s
Hampton, Henry
Fayer, Steve
Paperback
Marked by Time: How Social Change Has Transformed Crime and the Life Trajectories of Young Americans
Sampson, Robert J.
Hardcover
The Platinum Age of Gospel: The Years When Crossover Music Changed Everything
Barron, Charrise
Hardcover
W. E. B. Du Bois's Data Portraits: Visualizing Black America
The W. E. B. Du Bois Center at the University of Massachuset
Hardcover
The Master Plan: My Journey from Life in Prison to a Life of Purpose
Wilson, Chris
Witter, Bret
Paperback
White Evangelical Racism, Second Edition: The Politics of Morality in America
Butler, Anthea
Paperback
Think and Grow Rich: A Black Choice: A Guide to Success for Black Americans
Hill, Napoleon
Kimbro, Dennis
Paperback
Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America
King, Gilbert
Paperback
Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm's Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land
Penniman, Leah
Paperback
Historically Black Phrases: From I Ain't One of Your Lil' Friends to Who All Gon' Be There?
Hill, Jarrett
Anderson, Tre'vell
Hardcover
Contempt of Court: The Turn-Of-The-Century Lynching That Launched a Hundred Years of Federalism
Curriden, Mark
Phillips, Leroy
Paperback
Nature Knows No Color-Line: Research into the Negro Ancestry in the White Race
Rogers, J. a.
Hardcover
Expecting Inequity: How the Maternal Health Crisis Affects Even the Wealthiest Black Americans
Bridges, Khiara
Hardcover
The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism
Baptist, Edward E.
Paperback
Never Wear Red Lipstick: 8 Lies That Stop Black Women from Succeeding in Life and Business
Dunham Burton Phd, Karmetria
Hardcover
Passing Strange: A Gilded Age Tale of Love and Deception Across the Color Line
Sandweiss, Martha A.
Paperback
Black Fatigue, Second Edition: How Racism Erodes the Mind, Body, and Spirit
Winters Reese, Mareisha N.
Winters, Mary-Frances
Paperback