1 week Ago
Supermarkets’ cake mix shelves feature the Big Three. There’s Pillsbury, whose Doughboy is a cartoon character. There’s Betty Crocker; sure, her pretty face is on the box, but it’s a portrait drawn from imagination because she’s fictitious.
Then there’s the third brand. No cute mascot, no human likeness. Just a simple name in a simple font.
Of the three, only Duncan Hines actually existed. Yet he personally had nothing to do with cake mixes, cooking or baking. So, how did it happen? There was no reason to believe great things were ahead for the baby born in Bowling Green, Ky.
, in 1880. Hines’ father was a Confederate veteran. His mother died when he was 4, and his grandparents raised him.
A job with Wells Fargo Express Co. sent him out West. Then, it was off to Chicago as a traveling salesman for a printing company.
To understand what happened next, you must first know what life on the road was like for a traveling salesman in 1910. It was a time before franchise restaurants and hotel chains. Each owner did its own thing.
That made eating out a gamble. You never knew what you’d get. Hines’ job kept him on the go.
He logged more than 40,000 miles annually, the equivalent of driving across the United States 14 times. Naturally, he ate out. A lot.
Hines was a tough customer. He demanded spick-and-span spotlessness (personally inspecting every kitchen), prompt, polite service and above-average food. He began keeping tabs on the best places to eat and stay, making notes about each place’s atmosphere and specialties.
Friends began asking: “I’m going to Kansas City next week. Where’s a good place to eat there?” The more he answered, the more they asked. By 1935, Hines had compiled notes on 167 restaurants in 30 states.
To ease the growing requests, he included lists of recommended establishments inside his Christmas cards. That, he thought, would take care of that. It didn’t.
He was bombarded with even more letters asking: “I hear you’ve got a list of good places to eat. May I get one?” Hines started charging $1 a copy, hoping the hefty price tag would end demand. That didn’t work, either.
When he had sold 1,000 copies, Hines realized he had stumbled upon a gold mine. So in 1937, he self-published “Adventures In Good Eating: Good Eating Places Along the Highways of America.” It quickly became a bestseller.
When Americans hit the road, his book was in the Ford or Chevy with them. And Hines was on the road to celebrity status. He updated it each year.
Consider this from 1939: “Corbin, KY Sanders Court and Cafe. Open all year except Xmas. A very good place to stop.
Sizzling steaks, fried chicken, country ham, hot biscuits.” Did you catch the “fried chicken”? The Sanders referenced in the title was Col. Harland Sanders.
The little restaurant was where he perfected his blend of 11 secret herbs and spices that eventually took Kentucky Fried Chicken worldwide. It didn’t stop with food. Next, he published a hotel guide, “Lodging for a Night,” and later “Adventures in Good Cooking.
” They were followed by a syndicated newspaper column and radio shows. What Hines decreed was good as gospel. How much did Americans trust him? A man in New England wanted to buy a farm in Kentucky.
So he wrote a letter instructing Hines to purchase the best property available on his behalf — and he included a blank bank check to cover the transaction. (Hines returned it with a polite, “Thanks, but no thanks.”) Hines never accepted free meals.
Restaurateurs couldn’t advertise in his books. Knowing Americans trusted his recommendations took its toll. A 1946 Life magazine profile noted, “Some of Hines’ correspondents have grown to trust him so much that it makes him nervous.
” What, you wonder, does all this have to do with cake mixes? Duncan Hines’ name was bankable. After World War II, businessman Roy Park partnered with him to create food products bearing the “Duncan Hines” title. First came Duncan Hines Ice Cream.
It was an instant hit, not because of the familiar name but because of its high butterfat content. That became the formula for future Duncan Hines products — they tasted richer than the competition. The first Duncan Hines cake mix made its debut in 1951.
Bread and pancake mixes followed in 1952, and blueberry muffin mix arrived in 1953. In time, more than 250 canned, bottled and boxed products bore the Duncan Hines brand. Hines returned to Bowling Green in 1939, where his quiet life belied his celebrity status.
He died of lung cancer in 1959, 11 days shy of his 79th birthday. And still a household name today. J.
Mark Powell is a novelist, former TV journalist and diehard history buff. He wrote this for InsideSources.com .
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