The generating function of double Hurwitz numbers is known to become a tau function of the Toda hierarchy. The associated Lax and Orlov-Schulman operators turn out to satisfy a set of generalized string equations. These generalized string equations resemble those of c = 1 string theory except that the Orlov-Schulman operators are contained therein in an exponentiated form. These equations are derived from a set of intertwining relations for fermion bilinears in a two-dimensional free fermion system. The intertwiner is constructed from a fermionic counterpart of the cut-and-join operator. A classical limit of these generalized string equations is also obtained. The so-called Lambert curve emerges in a specialization of its solution. This seems to be another way of deriving the spectral curve of the random matrix approach to Hurwitz numbers. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.