Duncan Hines (March 26, 1880 – March 15, 1959) was an American author and food critic who produced restaurant ratings for travelers. He branched out to marketing food under his name, which continues as a brand in the present.

Early life, family and education

Hines was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky, the son of a former Confederate soldier. His mother died when he was four years old, and he was raised by his grandmother.

Hines attended Bowling Green Business University, which later merged with what is now Western Kentucky University. He worked in the American West for Wells Fargo and other companies before settling in Chicago, Illinois.

One such listing in the 1939 edition read:

The book proved so successful that Hines added another which recommended lodging.

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Hines wrote the newspaper food column Adventures in Good Eating at Home, which appeared in newspapers across the US three times a week on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. The column featured restaurant recipes adapted for home cooks that he had collected during his nationwide travels.

Entrepreneurial career

In 1952, Duncan Hines introduced Duncan Hines bread through the Durkee's Bakery Company of Homer, New York. Principals Albert Durkee, and Lena Durkee were the bakery proprietors. This was Duncan Hines' first foray into baked goods.

By 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. He was buried in Fairview Cemetery in Bowling Green, at the same series of Hines family plots as Thomas Hines.

Legacy

thumb|Duncan Hines logo

The Duncan Hines brand is owned by Conagra Brands, the name for Nebraska Consolidated Mills, which was the original owner of the brand. Conagra reacquired the brand through its acquisition, in 2018, of Pinnacle Foods which bought it from Procter & Gamble in 1997.

Hines is 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. A museum exhibit at Western Kentucky University's Kentucky Museum in Bowling Green showcases Duncan Hines.

Publications

  • Hines, Duncan (1955). Duncan Hines' Food Odyssey. Thomas Y. Crowell Company.

Notes and references

Further reading

  • Repackaged as
  • Duncan Hines brand website