Why We Do What We Do
Emmaline’s All Natural Hot Sauce is a four-generation-old recipe passed down from our grandmother who is proudly displayed on the bottle wearing her wedding dress in 1910.
It was our mother, Gwendolyn who dreamed of selling the hot sauce. She set up vending tables and sold it at various farmer markets and food tastings throughout the tri-state area. As a result, the sauce developed a loyal following. In 2007 Emmaline’s All Natural Hot Sauce won the Whole Foods Local Hero Award.
After we lost our mom during the pandemic in 2020, we officially relaunched on Juneteenth this year and long-time customers couldn’t be happier. Emmaline’s All Natural Hot Sauce is a four-generation-old recipe passed down from our grandmother who is proudly displayed on the bottle wearing her wedding dress in 1910.
Emmaline Humphries
Emmaline Humphries was our grandmother. She was born in 1893 in Columbia Alabama. We proudly display her wedding photo on the bottle of Emmaline’s All-Natural hot sauce. Ms. Emma worked in her mother-in-law Pauline Stinson’s restaurant on Claxton Street in Elba, Alabama. The restaurant served the Elba County jail, jurors, visitors to Courthouse Square, and Elba's"colored" residents at the "Emancipation Day" (Aka, Juneteenth") Celebration on May 28, 1923. When the Pea River flooded and engulfed Elba, Ms. Emma cooked food to help flood victims.
By 1940, Emmaline, was the mother of 12 children. She and her family left Elba and moved to Dothan Alabama. Ms. Emma” ran a successful catering business providing wholesome meals for social gatherings in Dothan, Alabama. By 1945 she left the south during the Great Migration north, and settled in Hartford, Connecticut. We named our all-natural hot sauce in her honor.
Drawing by visual artist Asha C. Bell. Emmaline's Great-granddaughter. Copyright 2021, Asha C. Bell. All rights reserved.
