Duncan Hines
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Duncan Hines (March 26, 1880 – March 15, 1959) was a U.S. pioneer of restaurant ratings for travelers.
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[edit] History
Born in Bowling Green, Kentucky, Hines was a traveling salesman for a Chicago printer. By age 55 in 1935, Hines had eaten a lot of good and bad meals on the road, as part of his job, all across the country. At this time in the United States, there was no interstate highway system and only a few chain restaurants, except for in large, populated areas. Therefore, travelers took their chances on getting a good meal at a local restaurant.
Hines and his wife, Florence, began assembling a list for friends of several hundred good restaurants around the country. The list became so popular, that he began selling a paperback book entitled Adventures in Good Eating (1935), which highlighted restaurants and their featured dishes that Hines had personally enjoyed in cities and towns across America.
The book became very popular, and restaurants that were favorably listed were given permission to hang a sign in the window that read "Recommended by Duncan Hines."[1] This became a highly-valued designation. Travelers far from home could expect a decent meal by looking for the Duncan Hines sign. If a restaurant's standards dropped, it would be removed from the next edition of the book. For this he is known as the first modern food critic.
Hines was so successful, he added another book, recommending lodging for the night.[1][2]
In 1952 Duncan Hines introduced Duncan Hines bread to the world through the Durkee's Bakery Company of Homer, New York. Principals Michael C. Antil Sr. and Albert Durkee, Lena Durkee, were the bakery proprietors. This was Duncan Hines' first foray into baked goods.
In 1953, Hines sold the right to use his name and the title of his book to Roy H. Park to form Hines-Park Foods, which licensed the name to a number of food-related businesses[1][2]. The cake mix license was sold to Nebraska Consolidated Mills in Omaha, Nebraska, which developed and sold the first "Duncan Hines" cake mixes.
In 1957, Nebraska Consolidated Mills sold the cake mix business to the U.S. consumer products company, Procter & Gamble. The company expanded the business to the national market, and added a series of related products.
[edit] Today
The Duncan Hines brand is now owned by Pinnacle Foods. Hines is widely honored in his hometown of Bowling Green and a portion of U.S. Route 31W north of the city was named the Duncan Hines Highway after his death in 1959.[3]
Duncan Hines was buried in Fairview Cemetery of Bowling Green, Kentucky, in the same series of Hines family plots as Thomas Hines.
[edit] Sponsorships
Duncan Hines cake mixes sponsored the 1962 telecast of The Wizard of Oz. As a special offer tie-in to the telecast that year, Duncan Hines gave viewers the opportunity to obtain the 1956 edition of the soundtrack album of the film.
[edit] Logo
The current Duncan Hines brand logo is a combination of the famous "Duncan Hines sign" and a book as an allusion to both the sign and his popular books.[1]
[edit] Quotations
"If the soup was as warm as the wine, if the wine was as old as the turkey, if the turkey had breasts like the maid, it would have been a fine dinner." - Duncan Hines
On creating the nation's first "Premium - thin sliced" loaf of bread "Duncan Hines bread" - "Never try to get a bigger piece of the pie - build a bigger pie." - Michael C. Antil Sr.
