This week, I received the following note from a reader:

cialis online pharmacy prescription

Of course we were interested in seeing a photo.

The feedsack quilt, in question.

My response:

I have never seen this design before. It is curious that there are so many identical flour sack pieces. The person who made this must have collected the sacks for a long time, or had a large family to use that amount of flour!

The “Aunt Jemima” image was rooted in minstrel shows, first appearing in 1875. She is, of course, yet another manifestation of a caricature that depicts someone who is African-American. Some people might interpret these quilt images as “benign,” but others would be angry in seeing this and call it an example of stereotyping and bigotry. There is no way to know what was in the mind of the original quiltmaker, nor if she was Black, herself. No matter how anyone views it, you are right, it is a piece of American folk art and one well-worth preserving. A museum placement seems appropriate. This is a very special item.

I would suggest that you donate it to the Jim Crow Museum on the campus of Ferris State University. Dr. David Pilgrim, professor of Sociology, has collected more than 5,000 artifacts related to Black Memorabilia, Culture, and Discrimination.

You can hear a talk by Dr. Pilgrim on .

The evolution of the Aunt Jemima image and use in selling various products is a fascinating story. A full account can be found in the following book:

If anyone has direct information about this feedsack cloth, please write to me at:
Thanks.

Additional links of interest:

Patricia Cummings

Tags: ,

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 25th, 2009 at 10:53 am and is filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through the feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.