Duncan Hines--More than a Cake Mix

by Mike Dowell

Duncan Hines was born on March 26, 1880 in Bowling Green, Kentucky. He was the youngest of six children. His mother died when he was four years old. After that he and his brothers spent summers in the country with his grandmother. In 1898 Hines left home to work for the Wells Fargo Company. He was first a wagon driver between Denver and Cheyenne. He was later a Wells Fargo Clerk in New Mexico. In 1905 he and his wife Florence moved to Chicago. There he entered the printing and advertising business. Hines worked for the next 33 years as a traveling salesman who sold "creative printing" ideas to industrial firms. During this time he and his wife purchased their first car. They began a hobby of traveling and seeing America, meeting interesting people and getting good food along the way. They began recording restaurants and dining rooms that they visited which featured outstanding food and service.

At Christmas 1935 Hines sent select friends a list of fine restaurants instead of the usual Christmas cards. His list contained 167 superior restaurants from 30 states and the District of Columbia. Hines felt he performed a real service for his friends. During his travels he soon discovered that "some places needed to be avoided just as much as some places needed return visits." The response to his restaurant list was overwhelming. Friends requested additional copies as well as strangers who had seen the list. Hines' business began to suffer from the numerous phone calls. Most days Hines would take calls until noon advising friends where to stay and eat on trips and vacations they were planning.

In 1936 Hines turned what had been his hobby into a business when he published "Adventures in Good Eating." Hines stated he had received many requests for ads in his book, but he never accepted any money or even a free meal for his recommendation. He felt that accepting ads would compromise its purpose and public trust in the book. Hines revised the book yearly adding new places and dropping those who failed to meet his standards. His opinion became so revered that those places that met his standards proudly displayed the sign "Recommended by Duncan Hines." These signs were rented from Hines and if the restaurant was removed from the book the sign must be returned. One restaurant owner once remarked "if Duncan Hines withdrew his approval, I'd just close up shop."

The success of this book led Hines to retire from sales in 1938 to devote his full time to editing and reviewing restaurants. Hines returned to Bowling Green, establishing his headquarters at his home which he built on Louisville Road. A staff of five answered correspondence and managed the business's daily affairs. In 1938 Hines followed up his eating guide with the companion book, "Lodging for a Night, A Hotel Guide." This book was followed in 1939 by a cookbook comprised of choice recipes from America's most popular places entitled, "Adventures in Good Cooking." In 1948 he published the Duncan Hines Vacation Guide.

Hines seldom traveled by train. Later in life he used rail service chiefly in the winter. Driving was his preferred means of transport, even to distant places. "Between Tucson and Portland, there are scores of good restaurants and inns run by good friends," Hines once said. His traveling 60,000 miles a year kept him away from Bowling Green about nine months a year reviewing restaurants and writing about his findings. During World War II it was not uncommon for Hines to drive from Chicago to St. Louis for a noon meal he thought about while on his way to the office. He wouldn't eat a complete meal at ever place he stopped. Hines said he could tell in a few bites how good the food was. He may stop at as many as four restaurants for breakfast and repeat the process for lunch. Hines said he steered away from chef specials and dishes where you scrape off gravy. "What you find is seldom worth the effort."

Beginning with the 1939 edition of "Adventures in Good Eating," Hines accepted volunteer service from 60 or more friends, who searched the countryside for delicious meals from clean, attractive places. His book listed over 2,000 restaurants in the lower 48 states, Hawaii and Mexico. Restaurants ranged from the obscure to the spectacular with prices ranges just as broad. The information when compiled might contribute three or four lines about a restaurant in his latest edition. While he had eaten at some of the most famous restaurants in America his favorite meal was a modest roast turkey, fresh cranberry sauce, gravy, fresh green salad, corn sticks or biscuits and apple pie.

Hines' first priority was always sanitation. After having eaten and paid for the meal he would often announce himself and ask to look at the kitchen, dishwashing equipment and icebox. Without making recommendation he would record his findings. Any place that objected or failed to meet his standards didn't belong in his book.

After his return to Bowling Green, Hines also operated a business curing country hams. His business cured 10,000 to 15,000 country hams a year. Government regulations during World War II forced him to discontinue his country ham business. In 1948 Hines was approached by Roy Park, a publisher and advertising executive, about starting a food product line under the name Duncan Hines. In 1949 Hines-Park Foods of Ithaca, New York was formed. Products such as salad dressings, ice cream and cake mixes carried his name.

Duncan Hines was in demand wherever he went. He attended scores of celebrations and dinners. He received dozens of keys to the city citations and certificates. Hines was a Kentucky Colonel and host of "Let's Travel," a daily radio show carried by the Mutual Broadcasting Network where he talked about food and lodging. This show was often broadcast on location so as not to interfere with his travels. The Louisville and Nashville Railroad also honored him by naming a dining car on the streamlined train the Georgian after him. Hines didn't ride trains very often, he always ate the country ham breakfast when he traveled on the L&N. "I like it" he said. Duncan Hines, the man rumored to have dined at more places than anyone else, died at age 78 on March 15, 1959 in Bowling Green, Kentucky. At the time of his death his name was synonymous with good eating and he had sold over 5 million copies of "Adventures in Good Eating." Today Duncan Hines products are known worldwide.