1939 YORK WORLD ' S FAIR CHARM BRACELET Mini Name - Brand Food/Black Memoribilia
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:1471367 | Country/Region of Manufacture: United States |
| World's Fair Charm Bracelet 1939-1940: Black Memorabilia: Cream of Wheat | Year: 1939-1940 World's Fair |
This is an Advertising Charm Bracelet from the 1939-1940 World's Fair.
It includes 9 charms including:
Black Memorabilia of the Male Cream of Wheat Figure -RASTUS!
At a moment when Minneapolis had a very small African American community, the city became home to “Rastus, ” an iconic caricature of a black man. “Rastus” was the symbol of the Cream of Wheat company, which relocated to Minneapolis in 1897 from North Dakota. Over the next 100 years, he was welcom...ed into households across the country.Four years earlier– a group of North Dakota millers devised a way to turn wheat middlings–a byproduct of wheat milling–into a lavishly packaged “breakfast cereal” they called Cream of Wheat. Short on capital, miller Emery Mapes designed the packages for the “breakfast porridge” himself, emblazoning the cartons with an image of a jolly African-American chef he called “Rastus” after the cheerful simpletons depicted by Joel Chandler Harris in his Uncle Remus books. The image was offensive; like Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben, this figure solidified white stereotypes of happy black servants. But the product was an enormous success, despite the desperate economic conditions of the country in 1893.The Cream of Wheat company moved to the Mill City to ensure advantageous shipping rates and a dependable supply of the middlings necessary for its cereal. It pioneered a strategy that would prove central to the city’s economy by the 1920s, as Buffalo superseded Minneapolis as the nation’s milling capital. Cream of Wheat used innovative advertising and branding to create value for consumers. Using four-color printing the company cultivated desire for what was an inexpensive commodity. The artfully-depicted scenes on the packages curried nostalgia for a simple and wholesome era of American life, when racial and ethnic hierarchies were unquestioned. The processed food industry was born.The image of the former slave–“Rastus” –was central to the success of this product, which made company founder Emery Mapes millions of dollars. In this 1921 advertisement, Rastus was depicted as barely literate. His sign reads:Maybe Cream of WheatAin’t got no vitamins.I don’t know what themThings is. If they’s bugsThey ain’t none in CreamOf Wheat but she’s sho’ goodTo eat and cheap. Costs ‘bout1 cent fo a great big dish.The proceeds from this campaign built 2218 Lake of the Isles Parkway, a grand mansion for Emery Mapes on the city’s most elite lake. Despite ongoing protests, Rastus remains the personification of Cream of Wheat cereal today.
along with Crisco, Snider's Catsup, A Sears Roebuck Catalogue, Shredded Ralston, HI Ho Crackers, Ovaltine, Del Monte Pineapple, & Heinz Spaghetti.
Bracelet clasp closes.
Very nice collectible piece.
Thank you for looking at this charming piece of American History.
It includes 9 charms including:
Black Memorabilia of the Male Cream of Wheat Figure -RASTUS!
At a moment when Minneapolis had a very small African American community, the city became home to “Rastus, ” an iconic caricature of a black man. “Rastus” was the symbol of the Cream of Wheat company, which relocated to Minneapolis in 1897 from North Dakota. Over the next 100 years, he was welcom...ed into households across the country.Four years earlier– a group of North Dakota millers devised a way to turn wheat middlings–a byproduct of wheat milling–into a lavishly packaged “breakfast cereal” they called Cream of Wheat. Short on capital, miller Emery Mapes designed the packages for the “breakfast porridge” himself, emblazoning the cartons with an image of a jolly African-American chef he called “Rastus” after the cheerful simpletons depicted by Joel Chandler Harris in his Uncle Remus books. The image was offensive; like Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben, this figure solidified white stereotypes of happy black servants. But the product was an enormous success, despite the desperate economic conditions of the country in 1893.The Cream of Wheat company moved to the Mill City to ensure advantageous shipping rates and a dependable supply of the middlings necessary for its cereal. It pioneered a strategy that would prove central to the city’s economy by the 1920s, as Buffalo superseded Minneapolis as the nation’s milling capital. Cream of Wheat used innovative advertising and branding to create value for consumers. Using four-color printing the company cultivated desire for what was an inexpensive commodity. The artfully-depicted scenes on the packages curried nostalgia for a simple and wholesome era of American life, when racial and ethnic hierarchies were unquestioned. The processed food industry was born.The image of the former slave–“Rastus” –was central to the success of this product, which made company founder Emery Mapes millions of dollars. In this 1921 advertisement, Rastus was depicted as barely literate. His sign reads:Maybe Cream of WheatAin’t got no vitamins.I don’t know what themThings is. If they’s bugsThey ain’t none in CreamOf Wheat but she’s sho’ goodTo eat and cheap. Costs ‘bout1 cent fo a great big dish.The proceeds from this campaign built 2218 Lake of the Isles Parkway, a grand mansion for Emery Mapes on the city’s most elite lake. Despite ongoing protests, Rastus remains the personification of Cream of Wheat cereal today.
along with Crisco, Snider's Catsup, A Sears Roebuck Catalogue, Shredded Ralston, HI Ho Crackers, Ovaltine, Del Monte Pineapple, & Heinz Spaghetti.
Bracelet clasp closes.
Very nice collectible piece.
Thank you for looking at this charming piece of American History.
