Duncan Hines: How a Traveling Salesman Became the Most Trusted Name in Food

Chapter Four: Chicago

4 CHICAGO Duncan Hines and Florence Chaffin married on 27 September 1905,106 at Fort Slocum in New Rochelle, New York, in Col. Richard H. Wilson's quarters.l°7 Florence's older sister, Grace, wrote a few years after Duncan and Florence were wed: ((The biggest event of our stay [in New Rochelle] was... [Florence's] marriage.... The wedding took place in our living room one afternoon. The ceremony was conducted by the post chaplain.... Then [Florence] left us to live in Chicago."108 Why Hines and Florence chose Chicago as their new home is unknown. Nor is it known why he chose to work in the advertising profession. He may have thought he had a talent for selling himself and sought to take full advantage ofit. When the newlyweds moved to Chicago that fall,lo9 Hines was quickly hired by a pioneer in direct mail advertising, the J. T. H. Mitchell company, which was a sophisticated operation for its day that had offices in Chicago's Marquette Building.110 Before much time had passed, his gregarious personality soon made him one of the firm's best sales representatives. The Mitchell firm had a reputation for excellent service, and Hines quickly learned he had a knack for providing Mitchell's clients with what they wanted: imaginative advertising ideas that effectively sold their services and products. As a Mitchell 34 DUNCAN HINES employee, he did not calion his customers; instead when they wanted to begin an advertising campaign, they called him. He could only be reached by appointment. Although many customers were from Chicago, more than a few were from cities and towns as far away as Ohio and beyond. When he received a call from a distant client, he usually took a train.lll Hines liked his role as a salesman. It suited his personality, and there was prestige in what he did. His customers liked him because he was "a straight shooter)) and did not try to sell them things they did not want. They found him jovially outgoing in his demeanor and not irritatingly aggressive-unlike some salesmen they had encountered. He made his customers feel comfortable and relaxed when he was around. In fact, he was almost courtly toward them. Hines was gentle but firm, and his customers always wanted to buy something from him. This was the secret to his success.112 Although Hines was now living closer to his Kentucky home, his family did not see much of him. He visited them once a year, but that was all he could manage to arrange.113 After five moves in seven years, in 1912 he and Florence found a permanent residence in an apartment house at 5494 Cornell Avenue;114 it remained their home for their marriage's duration.lIS Hines and his boss, John T. H. Mitchell, got along fabulously; quite often they called on distant corporate clients together. So highly did Mitchell regard his employee's ability as a salesman that it was not an uncommon sight to see them together, bustling down the Midwestern breadbasket's highways in Mitchell's car, with the boss at the wheel and Hines in the passenger seat. Although Hines could not drive, this lack of knowledge did not seem to bother Mitchell, who enjoyed his company.116 Sometime between 1910 and 1914 the Mitchell company chose to discontinue its involvement with direct mail and plunged itself into the printing business. Within several months the company became a major Midwestern printer. Hines's role within the reorganized company was unaffected by the changeover, because Mitchell could always use his valuable selling talents. The printing industry, however, intrigued him, and Hines sought to extend his CHICAGO 35 knowledge of it. He learned as many facets of the trade as he could, and within time the industry regarded him as one of its more knowledgeable experts. Before long Mitchell gave him new duties. Although officially still a salesman, Hines soon found himself designing, writing, and producing corporate brochures as well as books and catalogues for the industrial firms he called on, which increasingly were outside the Chicago area. As he came to realize, the time he took to learn the many aspects ofthis new trade proved a valuable asset.117 It was while traveling for the Mitchell firm that Hines first began jotting down in a memorandum book the names of good places to eat. He traveled...