Sanders, Colonel (1890-1980), an American chef and businessman, is best known for starting the fast-food restaurant chain Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). Sanders pioneered fast food in the United States with his groundbreaking business methods, high-quality products, and appealing image.
In 1929, Sanders became the manager of a gas station beside the highway in Corbin, Kentucky . He opened a small café serving motorists such traditional Southern foods as biscuits, fried chicken, ham, and vegetables. He then opened a larger restaurant and motel across the street. Sanders Café became so popular that the governor of Kentucky named Sanders an honorary colonel in 1935. In 1939, Sanders invented a method for frying chicken using a pressure cooker. The invention cut cooking time from 45 minutes to 9 minutes. Sanders was named honorary colonel again in 1949 and began using the name Colonel Sanders.
Sanders established a franchise agreement in 1952 with restaurant owner Pete Harman. Under this arrangement, Harman was allowed to sell Colonel Sanders’s fried chicken in exchange for a fee. He started selling what he called Kentucky Fried Chicken at a restaurant in Salt Lake City , Utah . Harman was the first to use the company’s now-famous slogan, “Finger lickin’ good.”
In 1955, the construction of an interstate highway directed traffic away from Sanders Café, leading Sanders to close the restaurant. He moved to Shelbyville, Kentucky, near Louisville, and dedicated his efforts to franchising. He marketed his special blend of fried chicken seasonings—made from a secret recipe of 11 herbs and spices—to restaurants, collecting a small fee for each fried chicken sold. Sanders also shared with franchise restaurants his patented method of frying chicken with a pressure cooker, as well as his gravy recipe. By 1963, Kentucky Fried Chicken had expanded to over 600 franchises across the United States.
Sanders’s image became an important part of Kentucky Fried Chicken’s marketing. Sanders maintained the appearance of a Southern gentleman, wearing a white suit with a black string tie, carrying a cane, and keeping a white mustache and goatee. His charismatic (charming) personality made him an ideal spokesman for the company. But Sanders was also known to have a temper, sharply scolding franchise holders who did not cook to his standards. Sanders sold the company in 1964, but he kept the rights to its Canadian operation. He started a foundation in Canada to distribute his profits to various charities. Sanders served on the KFC board of directors until 1970. He also remained a spokesman for the company, appearing in advertisements, commercials, and TV shows. The company continued to use his likeness even after his death.
Harland David Sanders was born on Sept. 9, 1890, in Henryville, Indiana , north of Louisville, Kentucky. His father died when he was five years old. Sanders learned to care and cook for his two younger siblings while his mother worked. He left school in the sixth grade to work and left home at 12 years of age. In 1906, when he was 15 years old, Sanders lied about his age to enlist in the U.S. Army . After leaving the service, he earned a law degree while working various jobs.
Sanders wrote an autobiography, Life as I Have Known It Has Been “Finger Lickin’ Good” (1974). He died on Dec. 16, 1980.
