'Recommended by Duncan Hines': Automobility, Authority, and American Gastronomy

Abstract

How did Duncan Hines become an authority on roadside dining? What role did he have in the consumption of food and the use of automobiles? What were the messages he pronounced to his audiences? In "'Recommended by Duncan Hines,'" I examine the formation of Duncan Hines as the premier American restaurant critic as occurring in national journals and self-published guidebooks of the 1930s to 1950s. Analyzed as a function of the discursive production of power/knowledge within the historical contexts of cultures of automobility, consumption, and authority, I frame Hines as a mediator between producers and consumers, a position gaining in significance in the early 20th century. Narrating the exchange of commodities, Hines' gastronomy acted as a fount of nationalism and American "taste" based in perceptions of geography, history, and authenticity. Furthermore, my thesis presents a model for comprehending the origins, role, and effects of critics and other cultural authorities.