Kentucky Fried Chicken is the story of one man, Colonel Harland Sanders.
Original Recipe Kentucky Fried Chicken, his creation, is now sold in 80 countries worldwide, with 8 millions customers eating his finger lickin' good KFC daily.
Colonel Sanders’ father died when he was 5 years old and by the time he was 7, he was caring for two younger siblings while his mother worked in a tomato canning factory in Henryville, Indiana. He had watched her in the kitchen and asked questions about cooking and seasoning already, so at 7 he began cooking meals for the entire family.
After a colorful succession of jobs including railroading, serving as a Justice of the Peace and selling tires and insurance, Harland Sanders settled into the filling station business in Corbin, Kentucky in the 1930's. He had a side room with the family dining table and six chairs, and would offer home cooked meals to travelers. If he sold the food, he would cook another meal for his family. Within a few years he was recommended in Duncan Hines food guide "Adventures in Good Eating."
Harland Sanders was a gifted cook, storyteller, and charismatic entertainer who would be the star of any show on Food Network today.
The last chapter in the Colonel’s incredible story was his visibility as an advertising icon, today recognized worldwide.
By appearing in KFC commercials he put his name and image on the line with his product, and no one has ever done that more successfully.
The Colonel died of leukemia in 1980, but he is fondly remembered by many early franchisees who are still actively preparing Original Recipe Kentucky Fried Chicken and satisfying customers daily. The Colonel did business only one way, The Hard Way. This business philosophy still guides KFC operators today.
Welcome to the world’s greatest fried chicken experience!
In 1939, his motel and restaurant caught fire, and the Colonel considered rebuilding without a restaurant, but his customers would not hear of it.
Sanders Cafe in Corbin reopened July 4, 1940, with the Colonel's secret recipe chicken cooked in a newfangled invention, the pressure cooker. By combining his unique and signature recipe with pressure cooking, the Colonel made the commercialization of fried chicken in the restaurant business possible.
When the new interstate highway system threatened his business, the Colonel collected his first Social Security check at age 65, sold his restaurant and began traveling around the country selling his only asset, his recipe and cooking technique, to restaurant owners who would listen. Those who did listen were fortunate indeed.