Colonel Sanders (1890

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Biography

Harland David Sanders was an American entrepreneur and founder of fast food chicken restaurant chain Kentucky Fried Chicken, now known as KFC. He later acted as the company's brand ambassador and symbol. His name and image are still symbols of the company today.

In Their Own Words (2)

That friggin’ outfit...they prostituted every goddamn thing I had. I had the greatest gravy in the world and those sons of bitches they dragged it out and extended it and watered it down that I'm so goddamn mad.

Referring to the changes made to his secret gravy recipe after he was bought out in 1964, as quoted in The McDonaldization of Society (2008) by George Ritzer, "Calculability", p. 83, , 2008

There's something inside of me that makes me want to help people, especially people who are having difficulty of some kind.

Colonel Sanders: The Autobiography of the Original Celebrity Chef

Timeline

The story of Colonel Sanders, told in moments.

1890 Birth

Born Harland David Sanders in Henryville, Indiana. His father dies when he is five. His mother works in a canning factory. Harland cooks for his younger siblings starting at age six.

Cooking for siblings at six. Was the kitchen refuge or responsibility? Your father dying when you were five. Who filled that gap?

1930 Life

Has already been a farmhand, streetcar conductor, railroad fireman, insurance salesman, tire salesman, ferryboat operator, and failed lawyer (he got into a courtroom fistfight with his own client). At 40, he starts cooking chicken at a gas station in Corbin, Kentucky.

Farmhand, conductor, fireman, tire salesman, failed lawyer. Were you searching? A courtroom fistfight with your own client. Was that the last straw for law?

1940 Event

Develops his "secret recipe" of 11 herbs and spices and a pressure-frying method that cooks the chicken in minutes instead of half an hour. The recipe is written on a single sheet of paper and locked in a vault. It stays there.

Eleven herbs and spices locked in a vault. Was secrecy your idea? Did pressure-frying feel like a discovery or an obvious fix?

1952 Event

Opens his first Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise in South Salt Lake, Utah. He's 62. He drives around the country cooking chicken for restaurant owners, signing them up on handshake deals. If they like the taste, they pay him four cents per chicken sold.

Driving around the country at sixty-two, cooking for restaurant owners. Was that fun? Handshake deals and four cents per chicken. Did you know it would scale?

1964 Event

Sells KFC for $2 million at age 73 to a group led by John Y. Brown Jr. (later governor of Kentucky). He keeps the Canadian franchise and a salaried job as brand ambassador. He begins wearing the white suit full-time.

Selling KFC for $2 million, then wearing the white suit full-time. Was that a persona? Did $2 million feel like fair compensation for what you built?

1980 Death

Dies of leukemia in Louisville at 90. By now KFC has 6,000 outlets in 48 countries. He'd spent his last years publicly trashing the company's food, calling the gravy "wallpaper paste."

Calling the company's gravy 'wallpaper paste.' Were you still loyal to the recipe? Did 6,000 outlets in 48 countries amaze or horrify you?

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