Saturday, January 9, 2010

Duncan Hines..The Man And His Mixes


This is such a great picture. Imagine that! A man actually standing by a stove in the fifties and not the barbeque grill. This is the cover of a cookbook advertising the Estate range. Why, it's none other than
 Duncan Hines!
Duncan Hines was born in Bowling Green Kentucky in 1880. He was a traveling salesman. During his travels in 1935, he had eaten alot of good and bad food on the road. "I run less risk driving my way across country than eating my way across." During this time, there were no interstate highway systems and only a few chain restaurants in the populated areas, so good food for travelers was found in the local restaurants.
Hines and his wife began putting together lists for their friends of good restaurants across the country. These lists resulted in a paperback book called, "Adventures in Good Eating." It was a must have for any traveler. This book was so popular, that another one was written called, "Lodging For The Night."
In 1952 Duncan Hines introduced bread through the Durkee Baking Company. This was his first step to baked goods mixes. Hines sold the rights to use his name and the title of his book to Roy Park which then was transformed into Hines Park Foods. This was the license to many food related businesses that bore the Duncan Hines name.
In case you are interested, there is a museum in Bowling Green Kentucky honoring Duncan Hines:
http://www.duncanhinesmuseum.com/
"Whipped cream has it's place, ripe olives have theirs. Pickles are nice, but let's be reasonable."
"Have you ever tried a few drops of worcestershire sauce on bacon before broiling? It does things to it!"
If you would like to read the story of the man and his mixes, click the link below. Otherwise, let's bake a cake.
Duncan Hines: The Man Behind the Cake Mix

4 comments:

Going Like Sixty said...

Tidbits: The Duncan Hines home is now a funeral home. And there still is a Duncan Hines living in Bowling Green - descendant.

ethelmaepotter! said...

Very interesting. I never thought about Duncan Hines being a real person...and his home is little more than ahour from mine. I will make a note to visit when warmer weather finally returns.
And that Estate range...I WANT IT!

soulMerlin said...

I think every man should cook...and wear a suit and tie and a hankerchief in his breast pocket! Sweaty or what!

henry

ps: I put Worcester sauce on my bacon

:)

Anonymous said...

You have a very nice blog; thank you for sharing.

Wren
http://z10.invisionfree.com/Journey_Back_in_Time/index.php?