Duncan Hines cake mix and other hassle-free sweet treats have been staples in American
pantries for decades, but younger generations of shoppers probably don't know that Hines
was actually a real guy — and a pretty unlikely baked goods spokesman.
Here are some bite-sized facts about Hines' backstory.
He couldn't cook
Hines not only wasn't a professional chef or baker, he could hardly cook.
Hines was actually a traveling office supply salesman in the '20s and '30s.
Since he was on the road so much, he experienced the sometimes questionable food travelers
were forced to subsist on firsthand, and he decided to do something about it.
As Hines crisscrossed America selling stationery, he took most of his meals at diners and small
restaurants that popped up in response to the growing number of families who owned cars
and took road trips.
At the time Hines was traveling, restaurant guides were few and far between, and they
were often financed by the establishments themselves.
Hines decided he was going to change that, and started carrying a journal, making notes
on the quality of the food and the restaurant itself at locations big and small all across
America.
He turned those notes into a pamphlet he sent out with Christmas cards to his friends and
family.
So many people wanted copies that he self-published an expanded guide with 475 reviews called
Adventures in Good Eating in 1936 that quickly sold out.
Hines released updated annual editions until he retired in 1954.
Most of the restaurants he reviewed are long gone now, but there's still a handful of them
scattered across the country.
In 1939, he reviewed one particular place that's evolved into a famous chain, calling
it "A very good place to stop" with "sizzling steaks, fried chicken, country ham, and hot
biscuits."
That place was the Sanders Cafe, the restaurant of future KFC mogul Colonel Sanders.
Cashing in
The guides made Hines a nationwide celebrity, and being included in them was considered
a huge honor.
Hines never allowed restaurants to buy their way in, even with advertisements, but he found
a way to make a fortune off his reputation another way.
He awarded the Duncan Hines Seal of Approval, which came with some rented signage restaurants
could proudly display — at a cost.
At a time when most families were averaging about $3,000 a year for their income, Hines
was cashing in at around $38,000 a year just for selling the right to display his seal.
"It simply says, 'Recommended by Duncan Hines.'
Food safety pioneer
When you look at the scope of human history, food safety is a relatively new thing.
The FDA wasn't even organized until 1930, and at the time Hines was traveling across
the US, health and safety regulations for restaurants weren't something that were frequently
monitored.
For Hines, food safety was one of the most important things he looked for in the restaurants
he reviewed.
He wrote, "The kitchen is the first spot I inspect (when) in an eating place.
More people will die from hit or miss eating than from hit and run driving."
Many of the restaurants Hines visited were well off the beaten path, and their clientele
were at the mercy of owners and staff who didn't have the constant threat of health
inspectors.
Hines looked at everything from how staff and chefs handled their food to what went
into the garbage.
Cleanliness was key to getting one of his recommendations, and at the time, Hines's
opinion shaped the way Americans thought about dining out.
Blind trust
In 1946, Life did a profile on Hines and his work, shining the spotlight on just how important
he was not only to the development of the American restaurant industry, but to the millions
of diners at its whim.
They had given him their complete trust, and there was a massive number of them: at the
time, around 900,000 copies of his guidebook had been sold.
In addition to having 400 volunteer reviewers working with him, he was still traveling 55,000
miles a year for his first-hand look at some of America's restaurants.
People weren't just trusting him to guide their culinary choices, either.
A complete stranger living in New England at the time decided he wanted to buy a 40-acre
farm in Hines's native Kentucky.
The man sent Hines a blank check, and asked him to broker the deal.
Hines tore up the check, and mailed the pieces back — but the entire episode spoke volumes
about just how respected and trusted he was.
Cold opening
Today, you know Duncan Hines for the cake mixes that bear his name, but that's not where
his association with packaged and processed food started.
Duncan Hines licensed the right to use his name and formed Hines-Park Foods, Inc. in
1949 with entrepreneur Roy Park.
Their first product?
Duncan Hines Ice Cream, which contained more butterfat than other commercial ice creams,
making it tastier and more expensive, but it still flew off shelves.
Let them eat cake
Hines-Park Foods, Inc., got even more serious about their brand after the success of their
ice cream, and set out to bring high-quality, high-convenience products into American kitchens.
There were once more than 250 products, including grills, dishes, salt and pepper shakers, and
lighters.
The famous cake mixes finally came along in 1951.
Most of the commercial cake mixes at that time contained powdered milk and powdered
eggs, but Hines, working with a food chemist, insisted they use fresh eggs.
This fluffier, tastier mix was so popular that within weeks of hitting the shelves,
it had taken over about half the market for cake mixes.
After finding the secret to a tasty cake mix, the Duncan Hines brand knew they had found
their strength — making easy-to-bake goods attainable to all home cooks.
They followed up with a pancake mix in 1952, and a mix for blueberry muffins the following
year.
The Duncan Hines brand you know and love was born.
Hines himself died in 1959, but his namesake brand lives on as an iconic grocery store
staple.
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