Did you know that Duncan Hines was a man before he was a brand?  He was an American pioneer of restaurant ratings for travelers, best known today for the brand of food products that bears his name. Hines was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Working as a traveling salesman for a Chicago printer, by age 55 in 1935, Hines had eaten a lot of good and bad meals on the road all across the US. At this time in the United States, there was no interstate highway system and only a few chain restaurants, except for those 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…