Christian Ludwig Rutt (October 8, 1859 – 1936) was a

managing editor A managing editor (ME) is a senior member of a publication's management team. Typically, the managing editor reports directly to the editor-in-chief and oversees all aspects of the publication. United States In the United States, a managing edito ...

for the ''

St. Joseph News-Press The ''St. Joseph News-Press'' is a daily morning newspaper based in St. Joseph, Missouri. It is the flagship publication of the News-Press & Gazette Company, which owns newspapers across northwestern Missouri and northeastern Kansas, and telev ...

'' who is credited with coming up with the recipe and name for

Aunt Jemima Pearl Milling Company (formerly known as Aunt Jemima from 1889 to 2021) is an American breakfast brand for pancake mix, syrup, and other breakfast food products. The original version of the pancake mix for the brand was developed in 1888–188 ...

pancakes. Rutt was born in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

. In 1865 he moved with his parents to

Atchison, Kansas Atchison is a city and county seat of Atchison County, Kansas, United States, along the Missouri River. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 10,885. The city is named in honor of US Senator David Rice Atchison from Missouri an ...

, where he attended St. Benedict's College (now

Benedictine College Benedictine College is a private Benedictine liberal arts college in Atchison, Kansas, United States. It was established in 1971 by the merger of St. Benedict's College (founded 1858) for men and Mount St. Scholastica College (founded 1923) for ...

). He worked for several years at newspapers in

Leavenworth, Kansas Leavenworth () is the county seat and largest city of Leavenworth County, Kansas, United States and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 37,351. It is located on the west bank of t ...

, and

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. He moved to

St. Joseph, Missouri St. Joseph is a city in and the county seat of Buchanan County, Missouri. Small parts of St. Joseph extend into Andrew County. Located on the Missouri River, it is the principal city of the St. Joseph Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includ ...

, in 1885, where he worked for the '' St. Joseph Gazette'', working for John N. Edwards. In 1889, he attended a white

minstrel A minstrel was an entertainer, initially in medieval Europe. It originally described any type of entertainer such as a musician, juggler, acrobat, singer or fool; later, from the sixteenth century, it came to mean a specialist entertainer who ...

show where the song "

Old Aunt Jemima "Old Aunt Jemima" is an American folk song written by comedian, songwriter, and minstrel show performer Billy Kersands (circa 1842–1915). The song became the inspiration for the Aunt Jemima brand of pancakes, as well as several characters in ...

" was being performed. The minstrels had red

bandana A kerchief (from the Old French ''couvrechief'', "cover head"), also known as a bandana, bandanna, or "Wild Rag" (in cowboy culture), is a triangular or square piece of cloth tied around the head, face or neck for protective or decorative purpos ...

s in their hair, and wore aprons. He and Charles Underwood had recently bought the Pearl Milling company in St. Joseph. They trademarked the image. Unable to make it work, they sold to the R.T. Davis Milling Company in St. Joseph. Davis would hire

Nancy Green Nancy Green (March 4, 1834 – August 30, 1923) was an American former enslaved woman, nanny, cook, activist, and the first of many African-American models and performers hired to promote a corporate trademark as "Aunt Jemima". The famous Aunt J ...

to portray the character at the

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordi ...

in 1893. In 1900, he was made editor for the ''Gazette''. In 1902, he became managing editor of the ''Daily News'', which would become the ''News-Press''. According to St. Joseph newspaper lore, at one point he would write an article in the morning ''Gazette'' and then refute it in the afternoon ''News''.St. Joseph News-Press: 150 years of St. Joseph News by Preston Filbert - News-Press & Gazette Co (1995) Rutt continued as editor until his death in 1936.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rutt, Chris 1859 births 1936 deaths Writers from Milwaukee Benedictine College alumni News-Press & Gazette Company people Managing editors