# Fill me in on Mrs Butterworths syrup **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 18, 2020, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fill-me-in-on-mrs-butterworths-syrup/855892 "2020-06-18T10:26:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GreedySmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a698b9/32.png) [@GreedySmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreedySmurf)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fill-me-in-on-mrs-butterworths-syrup/855892/1 "2020-06-18T10:26:59Z")
I’ve seen reports this morning of various brands/products being withdrawn in the US to be rebranded. I’m not American so I’m probably missing some nuance or history here. The two main ones from what I see is Uncle Ben’s (I’ve been aware of for some time) and Aunt Jemima (which I only saw for the first time about 6 months ago). I can clearly see the racial stereotypes that are offensive with those products. The one I don’t get is Mrs Buttersworth. Before today I was completely unfamiliar with the brand, and the only reference I have is looking at pictures of the bottle online. It’s a little hard to see the detail from a picture, but I’m not seeing the same sought of stereotype as the other two. Anyone care to fill me in on the background I’m missing? ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fill-me-in-on-mrs-butterworths-syrup/855892/2 "2020-06-18T10:55:55Z")
Here’s one source: > **[Is Mrs Butterworth Black or White? Mrs. Butterworth's Ethnicity Revealed |...](https://www.thecourierdaily.com/mrs-butterworth-black-white-ethnicity/21026/)** > > Is Mrs. Butterworth Black or White? Mrs. Butterworth's history reveals interesting facts about how Thelma McQueen was selected to be the iconic lady. > [@](#): > > Mrs. Butterworth’s Black! Thelma “Butterfly” McQueen, a black African-American actress, modeled for the original Mrs. Butterworth’s bottle. She was recognized for portraying young mother “Prissy” in “Gone with the Wind” (1939). As per the information provided by the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia situated in Ferris State University in Michigan, the mother character was displayed as an obese Black woman with her head covered with a scarf. Identical to Mrs. Butterworth’s iconic lady. > > Thelma McQueen, an African-American, was chosen to represent the brand because the company wanted to showcase that blacks were happy working under whites. To be their slaves. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fill-me-in-on-mrs-butterworths-syrup/855892/3 "2020-06-18T11:00:41Z")
There are others like it: > **[Cream of Wheat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cream_of_Wheat)** > > Cream of Wheat is an American brand of farina, a type of breakfast porridge mix made from wheat middlings. It looks similar to grits, but is smoother in texture since it is made with ground wheat kernels instead of ground corn. It was first manufactured in the United States in 1893 by wheat millers in Grand Forks, North Dakota and debuted at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois. > The rice-based Cream of Rice also forms part of the product line, and is often a recommended ear... > **[Rastus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rastus)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > Rastus is a pejorative term traditionally associated with African Americans in the United States. It is considered offensive. > "Rastus" has been used as a stereotypical, often derogatory, name for black men at least since 1880, when Joel Chandler Harris included a black deacon named "Brer Rastus" in the first Uncle Remus book. However, Rastus (a shortening of Erastus, the Greek name of, especially, Erastus of Corinth) has never been particularly p... This one from France: > **[Banania](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banania)** > > Banania is a popular chocolate drink found most widely distributed in France. It is made from cocoa, banana flour, cereals, honey and sugar. There are two types of Banania available in French supermarkets: 'traditional' which must be cooked with milk for 10 minutes, and 'instant' which can be prepared in similar fashion to Nesquik. > During a visit near Lake Managua, Nicaragua in 1909, the journalist Pierre Lardet discovered the recipe for a cocoa-based drink. When he returned to Paris, he started... This one from Germany, which changed their logo in 2004: > **[Sarotti](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarotti)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > Sarotti is a German chocolate brand owned by Stollwerck GmbH since 1998. > Berlin > In 1868 Hugo Hoffmann opened a company to produce sweets. The location of this shop was in Mohrenstraße 10 in Berlin. The industrial chocolate production took place on Mehringdamm No. 57 (then Belle-Alliance-Str. 81) since 1881, extended by Mehringdamm No. 55 in 1903 (then Belle-Alliance-Str. 82) and Mehringdamm No. 53 in 1906 (then Belle-Alliance-Str. 83). In 1913 t... ---
**Author:** ![GreedySmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a698b9/32.png) [@GreedySmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreedySmurf)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fill-me-in-on-mrs-butterworths-syrup/855892/4 "2020-06-18T11:04:06Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Here’s one source: > [Is Mrs Butterworth Black or White? Mrs. Butterworth's Ethnicity Revealed | The Courier Daily](https://thecourierdaily.com/mrs-butterworth-black-white-ethnicity/21026/) Thanks Machine Elf, I hadn’t seen that link. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fill-me-in-on-mrs-butterworths-syrup/855892/5 "2020-06-18T12:22:30Z")
I would have sworn that, when an ad series animated her many moons ago, that she spoke in a stereotypical NE US Causcasian accent. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fill-me-in-on-mrs-butterworths-syrup/855892/6 "2020-06-18T12:37:19Z")
My memory of Mrs Butterworth, as a logo, is a clear plastic figurine filled with syrup. That is certainly a dark brown color, but directly attributable to to the syrup, not skin color. I don’t ever recall seeing Mrs Butterworth as human character who might be assigned a particular race, the way Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben are. But maybe that’s only because my caucasian skin blinds me to such things. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fill-me-in-on-mrs-butterworths-syrup/855892/7 "2020-06-18T12:47:41Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > There are others like it: > > [Cream of Wheat - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cream_of_Wheat) > [Rastus - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rastus) > > This one from France: > [Banania - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banania) > > This one from Germany, which changed their logo in 2004: > [Sarotti - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarotti) And Britain too, of course. Almost not worth posting the Robertson’s (preserves, etc) [Golly](http://www.gollycorner.co.uk/d_02_mug.htm) - except to log the [company’s reaction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robertson%27s#Discontinuation_of_Golly) when they “decided” to withdraw this particular piece of branding: > [@](#): > > Robertson’s always insisted that they did not retire the Golly because of the pressure of political correctness in the 1990s, but simply for commercial reasons.[2] The brand director at Robertson’s commented: > > We are retiring Golly because we found families with kids no longer necessarily knew about him. We are not bowing to political correctness, but like with any great make we have to move with the times Quite. Political correctness gone mad. j PS: it’s worth doing an image search on \, just to understand the scale of its pervasiveness. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fill-me-in-on-mrs-butterworths-syrup/855892/8 "2020-06-18T13:00:43Z")
Colonel Sanders danced with her recently. > **[KFC'S Colonel goes 'Dirty Dancing' with Mrs. Butterworth to promote chicken...](https://adage.com/creativity/work/kfc-dance-hidden-language-stomach/957976)** > > And for the first time in a while, brand's spokesmascot is a non-celebrity She was voiced by a white woman back in the day—the actress who played Clara Edwards on Andy Griffith. > **[Hope Summers went from being Aunt Bee's best friend to the voice of Mrs....](https://www.metv.com/stories/hope-summers-of-the-andy-griffith-show-was-the-original-mrs-butterworth-voice)** > > From prize pickles to pancake syrup. Wikipedia says it was introduced in 1961. Aunt Jemima was 1889. Cream of Wheat was 1893. Uncle Ben’s was 1943. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fill-me-in-on-mrs-butterworths-syrup/855892/9 "2020-06-18T14:30:58Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Here’s one source: > [Is Mrs Butterworth Black or White? Mrs. Butterworth's Ethnicity Revealed | The Courier Daily](https://thecourierdaily.com/mrs-butterworth-black-white-ethnicity/21026/) Your source says this, further down: > [@](#): > > According to [Reference.com](http://Reference.com), Mrs. Butterworth is neither black nor white. The initial animated commercials featured Mary Kay Bergman, a white voice actress and she remained the voice for Mrs. Butterworth’s character for a significant time. I never thought of Mrs. Butterworth’s as racist – she was voiced by a white actress and the bottle – as far as bottles with low resolution can show – doesn’t to me suggest that she’s black. This site’s claim that Thelma McQueen modeled for the bottle is the first I’ve heard of that. I don’t think I buy it. Others don’t, either: > [@](#): > > There are claims that the Mrs. Butterworth bottle was modeled after Gone With the Wind actress Thelma McQueen, but they haven’t been substantiated. Again, the earliest adverts for the syrup clearly depict the sentient food appropriating the persona of an old white woman. > **[People Really Want to Know the Ethnicity of Syrup Icon Mrs. Butterworth](https://www.distractify.com/p/is-mrs-butterworth-white)** > > The most important meal of the day's most important question. I suspect that this is a case of some people’s conception being taken as fact with no good basis for it. It reminds me of the case a few years ago when some people claimed that the label on Snapple iced tea (with its colonial-era costumes and ships) represented slave traders. That was a stretch – the obvious connotation of such a picture on the label of iced tea is that it represented the Boston Tea Party. “Slave Ship” didn’t seem to be a rational thing to stick on a bottle of iced tea. At least in the case of Mrs. Butterworth there’s a more logical series of inferences that can justify the assumption – Aunt Jemima, a racist holdover from older times, sold pancakes, and was a plump woman in a head kerchief, so why not a similar figure selling the syrup that goes on it? And the syrup is brown in color, so the transparent bottle kinda looks like a brown person. I’m fully in sympathy with the current feelings – Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben and Rastus on Cream of Wheat should have gone ages ago. But I honestly don’t think Mrs. Butterworth is intended to be black, or a racist symbol, and I think people are throwing out the pancake syrup with the pancakes. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fill-me-in-on-mrs-butterworths-syrup/855892/10 "2020-06-18T18:50:36Z")
I don’t think Mrs. Butterworth’s was ever marketed using the imagery and stereotypes used for Aunt Jemima, with the minstrel-show style portrayal and dialect. I think it was just a bottle in the shape of a matronly woman and anything else was projected onto it by consumers. It wasn’t even introduced until 1961. They did not have any representation of her other than the bottle. Here is a [TV ad](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTL6u-Z3jnU) that voices her like somebody’s grandmother, and not trace of a black stereotype. She could be [Aunt Bee from Andy of Mayberry](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zFC-R65Sq0). ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fill-me-in-on-mrs-butterworths-syrup/855892/11 "2020-06-18T21:52:15Z")
For what it’s worth, by the way, I’ve never used Aunt Jemima pancake mix OR Mrs. Butterworth’s syrup. I was brung up on Bisquick, but now I make my pancakes and waffles from scratch. And I was raised on Log Cabin syrup and Vermont Maid. In its early years Vermont Maid was pure Maple syrup, but around the time of WWII they began blending in cane syrup. Now I think it’s sweetened flavored corn syrup. I don’t think Log Cabin (or Mrs. Butterworth’s) ever was maple syrup. It’s telling that the word “maple” doesn’t appear above “syrup” on Log Cabin, Vermont Maid, or Butterworth’s today. I’ve been using pure maple syrup for years, despite the price. > **[The Beginnings of The Vermont Maid Brand of Blended Syrup - Maple Syrup History](https://maplesyruphistory.com/2020/02/09/the-beginnings-of-the-vermont-maid-brand-of-blended-syrup/)** > > Readers of this website may recall a similar post in the past outlining the relationship of the Vermont Maid Syrup company to other Vermont maple syrup and blended syrup companies. However, after seeing an August 2019 local-interest news clip from a... > **[Log Cabin syrup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Log_Cabin_syrup)** > > Log Cabin is an American brand of pre-packaged syrups owned by Conagra Brands. > Log Cabin syrup was introduced in 1887. Grocer Patrick James Towle (1835-1912), who lived in the village of Forest Lake, Minnesota, initially formulated it. He named the syrup in honor of his childhood hero, Abraham Lincoln, who was famed for having been raised in a log cabin. > The brand was acquired by General Foods in 1927, and it remained one of that company's major brands for decades, General Foods merged with Kra... Vermont Maid ingredients from Amazon: High Fructose Corn Syrup, Corn Syrup, Water, Natural & Artificial Maple Flavor, Cellulose Gum, Caramel Color, Sodium Benzoate (To Preserve Freshness) And Sorbic Acid. Log Cabin Ingredients from Amazon site: Ingredients. Corn Syrup, Liquid Sugar (Natural Sugar, Water), Water, Salt, Natural and Artificial Flavor (Lactic Acid), Sodium Hexametaphosphate, Preservatives (Sodium Benzoate, Sorbic Acid), Caramel Color, Phosphoric Acid. Mrs. Butterworth’s ingredients from Amazon site: Ingredients. 'HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, CORN SYRUP, WATER, SALT, CELLULOSE GUM, MOLASSES, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR (LACTIC ACID), SODIUM HEXAMETAPHOSPHATE, SODIUM BENZOATE AND POTASSIUM SORBATE (PRESERVATIVES), CARAMEL COLOR, CITRIC ACID. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fill-me-in-on-mrs-butterworths-syrup/855892/12 "2020-06-18T22:09:44Z")
My can of Quebec maple syrup lists the contents as “Maple Syrup”. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fill-me-in-on-mrs-butterworths-syrup/855892/13 "2020-06-18T22:14:34Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I don’t think Log Cabin (or Mrs. Butterworth’s) ever was maple syrup. Probably not pure maple, no. Like your first link says, Log Cabin used to be a blended syrup; it had been such as early as [1909](https://thumbs.worthpoint.com/zoom/images1/1/0318/21/antique-towles-log-cabin-maple-syrup_1_188d1d304ad484f4e2e9ce1b186d8380.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fill-me-in-on-mrs-butterworths-syrup/855892/14 "2020-06-18T22:25:52Z")
> [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > My can of Quebec maple syrup lists the contents as “Maple Syrup”. 🙂 You Canadians are such showoffs. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2020, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fill-me-in-on-mrs-butterworths-syrup/855892/15 "2020-06-22T04:25:01Z")
Growing up on a farm in western Minnesota, our farm neighbors objected to Mrs Butterworths syrup because it was a fraud – not a trace of butter in it. As Dairy Farmers, that fraudulent name bothered them. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2020, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fill-me-in-on-mrs-butterworths-syrup/855892/16 "2020-06-22T04:35:26Z")
The fact that it was artificially flavored corn syrup didn’t bother them at all? ---
**Author:** ![Powers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Powers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Powers)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2020, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fill-me-in-on-mrs-butterworths-syrup/855892/17 "2020-06-22T19:31:43Z")
> As per the information provided by the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia situated in Ferris State University in Michigan, the mother character was displayed as an obese Black woman with her head covered with a scarf. Identical to Mrs. Butterworth’s iconic lady. Just two problems with this. Butterfly McQueen was not obese (though Mrs. Butterworth isn’t either), and Mrs. Butterworth does not wear a headscarf. Her hair is pulled back in a bun like a stereotypical white grandmother. With that in mind, I agree with **CalMeacham**. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2020, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fill-me-in-on-mrs-butterworths-syrup/855892/18 "2020-06-23T01:37:58Z")
Mark\_Finn: And you put that stuff into your MOUTH??/ My god. It’s _ **Tree Blood** _ !!! 😋 We couldn’t afford the real stuff when I was a kid. Now, when we vacation to the North Country, we buy 100% pure and local maple syrup. Not only is that stuff the schnizzle, but taking a tour of the buildings where it’s processed is magical. ---
**Author:** ![mundylion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundylion/32/3604_2.png) [@mundylion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mundylion)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2020, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fill-me-in-on-mrs-butterworths-syrup/855892/19 "2020-07-04T17:45:29Z")
I don’t understand why selling a product with any person’s name should be ‘bad taste’ and need to be banned. I buy Betty Crocker cake mixes, Duncan Hines products, Famous Amos cookies, etc. Caucasian names ok, black folk names not? Live black folks ok, dead or imaginary black folks not? Nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Powers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Powers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Powers)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2020, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fill-me-in-on-mrs-butterworths-syrup/855892/20 "2020-07-07T17:42:10Z")
You seem to be conflating a number of different scenarios all under the same umbrella. Keebler isn’t looking to change the name of “Famous Amos” cookies. That’s because Wally Amos was the guy who baked the original cookies, and he intentionally lent his name and image to its marketing. He owned them and sold them. Aunt Jemima, on the other hand, was a character, based on one common in racist minstrel shows, developed in order to capitalize on a racist stereotype. So Quaker is quite rightly looking to change the branding to exclude those racist elements. Betty Crocker is a character developed to sell baking supplies, but her name and image were not based on racist tropes, so there’s no need for General Mills to look into changing that branding. Do you see the difference? Powers &8^] [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fill-me-in-on-mrs-butterworths-syrup/855892.md?page=2)