Duncan Hines was born March 26, 1880, in Bowling Green, Kentucky. As a young man he traveled around the country as a traveling salesman. Not being able to cook meant that he had to eat in restaurants (I know the feeling). In 1935, with his wife, Clara, he wrote a book called Adventures in Good Eating. He then wrote sever
al other books about traveling. He was the guest on many radio shows, however, none of these exist anymore.
During the 1930s and 1940s, Hines went around the country rating the food in restaurants.
In 1949, his wife died and he started a food company with Roy Park, Hines-Park Foods. Its most popular line was ice cream. Park took it over completely in 1953. It was sold to Procter and Gamble in 1957. P&G sold it to Aurora Foods in 1998. Aurora sold it to Pinnacle Foods in 2004. The brand lives on. When P&G took the company, it concentrated on cake mixes, frosting mixes, and other home baked goods.
Duncan Hines died a few days before his 79th birthday on March 15, 1959. Sadly, since all of his radio appearances have been lost, the only recorded broadcast of Mr. Hines is an episode of the TV game show, To Tell the Truth, in 1957. Duncan Hines is buried in Fairview Cemetery in Bowling Green. A three mile stretch of US 31-W north of the city is named for him.
