Duncan Hines

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Duncan Hines (March 26, 1880–March 15, 1959) was a U.S. pioneer of restaurant ratings for travelers, born in Bowling Green, Kentucky. He was a traveling salesman for a Chicago printer and traveled all over the country. By age 55 in 1935, he had eaten a lot of good and bad meals on the road. At this time in America, there was no interstate highway system and only a few chain restaurants, mainly in large, populated areas. Therefore, travelers took their chances on getting a good meal at a local restaurant. Hines and his wife 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" which highlighted restaurants and their featured dishes that Hines had personally enjoyed in cities and towns across America. It became very popular, and restaurants favorably listed were given permission to hang a sign in the window, "Recommended by Duncan Hines." This became a highly-valued designation. Travelers far from home could expect a decent meal by looking for that sign. If a restaurant's standards dropped, it would be removed from the next edition of the book. Hines was so successful, he added another book recommending lodging for the night.

In 1953, Hines sold the right to use his name and the title of his book to Hines-Park Institute, which licensed the name to a number of food-related businesses. The cake mix license was sold to Nebraska Consolidated Mills (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. Hines is now largely remembered for this rather than for any of his journalistic accomplishments. 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. Highway 31W north of the city was named the Duncan Hines Highway after his death in 1959.

[edit] Trivia

Duncan Hines cake mixes sponsored the 1961 telecast of The Wizard of Oz (1939 film), and as a special offer tie-in to the telecast that year, gave viewers the opportunity to obtain the 1956 edition of the soundtrack album of the film.