Food Advertising During The Progressive Era

Food advertising of today did not appear out of nowhere, it was developed over a long period with the most significant developments taking place during the Progressive era. These developments include the emergence of racist and sexist brands, such as Aunt Jemima, and the use of nostalgia in advertisements. Nostalgia been used in a variety of ways and continues to be used in advertising today. Specifically, it has long been used to address general and specific, like those about the industrialization of food production. At the turn of the twentieth century societal changes mainly resulting from the industrial revolution sparked anxieties within the American population. Amidst these different developments and in response to the negative effects

Eugenics was based on the scientific understanding of genetics and heredity. It is the belief that the human population could be improved by eliminating undesirable traits through breeding. Eugenicists aimed to get rid of undesirable traits and encourage desirable traits through reproduction. They believed that methods such as involuntary sterilization, segregation and social exclusion would rid society of individuals deemed to be unfit. The determination of who was considered undesirable was based on scientific racism, the superiority of whites and inferiority of non-white people, which created a racial and class hierarchy. This hierarchy placed white elites at the top with the poor, ethnic minorities, African Americans, non-white immigrants, and the mentally ill at the bottom. The rising importance of the eugenics movement can be seen in the passage of the compulsory sterilization law in the United States in 1907 as well as the concern both Roosevelt and the Wilson administration put on eugenics and achieving their racial agendas.

This brand was owned by different companies over the years but it first owned and created by the Diamond Milling Company that after a few years changed its name to reflect the product it made. The company became The Cream of Wheat Company. The Cream of Wheat brand was an African American chef named Rastus, which was developed out of the racist “happy slave” life nostalgia just like Aunt Jemima. Rastus had the signature broad happy smile and his name came from the term Rastus which was known as a derogatory term for African Americans in the United States. The personality characteristics given to Rastus was racist as he was portrayed as a barely literate, uneducated cook. (Lovett, Kern-Foxworth,