Birth Dates of Notable Kentuckians: March 26, 1880 - Duncan Hines

Image from jerryhines.com


From The Kentucky Encyclopedia -
Duncan Hines, a food critic who marketed a line of processed foods under his name, was born to Edward L. and Cornelia (Duncan) Hines at Bowling Green, Kentucky, on March 26, 1880. In 1905 he entered the printing and advertising business. He married Florence Chaffin, and they lived in Chicago. The couple traveled extensively in the United States and at Christmas 1935 mailed a list of "superior eating places" to their friends. The responses to the list prompted the 1936 publication of Adventures In Good Eating, a guide to the most highly recommended U.S. restaurants. After a companion work, Lodging For A Night, was published in 1938, the sign "Recommended by Duncan Hines" became a guide for travelers. Hines also published two cookbooks.

In 1949 Hines joined Roy H. Park in establishing the Hines-Park Foods Company, which produced and sold food under the Duncan Hines label. They also founded the Duncan Hines Institute, which conducted food research and granted scholarships to students in hotel and restaurant management. In 1956 Hines- Park Foods was acquired by the Proctor and Gamble Company of Cincinnati.

Hines's wife died in 1939; he married Clara Wright Nahm in 1946. Hines died in Bowling Green on March 15, 1959, and was buried there.

Selected Sources from UK Libraries:

Hatchett, Louis. Duncan Hines : The Man behind the Cake Mix. 1st ed. Macon, Ga.: Mercer UP, 2001. Print.
HC102.5.H56 H38 2001, Young Library - 4th Floor

Schwartz, David M. Duncan Hines : He Made Gastronomes out of Motorists. 1984. Print.
TX907.H5 S340 1984, Special Collections Research Center

Hines, Duncan, and Louis. Hatchett. Adventures in Good Cooking and the Art of Carving in the Home. 1st ed. Macon: Mercer UP, 2002. Print.
TX715 .H7226 2002, Special Collections Research Center