Duncan Hines
| Duncan Hines | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
March 26, 1880 Bowling Green, Kentucky, United States |
| Died | March 15, 1959 (aged 78) Bowling Green, Kentucky, United States |
| Occupation | Businessman, writer, food critic |
Duncan Hines (March 26, 1880 – March 15, 1959) was an American pioneer of restaurant ratings for travelers. He is best known today for the brand of food products that bears his name.
Hines was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky, the son of a former Confederate soldier. His mother died when he was four and he was raised by his grandmother. Hines attended Bowling Green Business University, which later merged with what is now Western Kentucky University and worked in the American West for Wells Fargo and other companies before settling in Chicago.
Hines worked as a traveling salesman for a Chicago printer, and he had eaten many meals on the road across the United States by 1935 when he was 55. At this time, there was no American interstate highway system and only a few chain restaurants, except in large populated areas. Therefore, travelers depended on getting a good meal at a local restaurant.
Hines and his wife Florence began assembling a list for friends of several hundred good restaurants around the country. The list became popular and he began selling the paperback book Adventures in Good Eating (1935), highlighting restaurants and their featured dishes that Hines had personally enjoyed in locations across America.
One such listing in the 1939 edition read:
Corbin, KY. Sanders Court and Café
41 — Jct. with 25, 25 E. ½ Mi. N. of Corbin. Open all year except Xmas.
A very good place to stop en route to Cumberland Falls and the Great Smokies. Continuous 24-hour service. Sizzling steaks, fried chicken, country ham, hot biscuits. L. 50¢ to $1; D., 60¢ to $1
Sanders Court owner Colonel Harland Sanders later decided to focus on franchising his system for preparing chicken, forming the brand that came to be known as Kentucky Fried Chicken.
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