Harland D. Sanders

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Harland D. Sanders (1974)
Signature "Col. Harland Sanders "

"Colonel" Harland David Sanders (born September 9, 1890 in Henryville , Clark County, Indiana , † December 16, 1980 in Louisville, Kentucky ) was the founder of the system catering company Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC).

Life

Sanders was from Indiana . He was the eldest of three children of Wilbur David and Margaret Ann Sanders. His father died when he was six years old. Because his mother had to work, he was responsible for cooking in the family. During the next ten years, Sanders worked in many jobs, including a railroad stoker, a ferry company, an insurance broker and a volunteer in the US Army in Cuba . In 1908 he married Josephine King.

In 1930, at the age of 40, Sanders made chicken for customers who visited his gas station in Corbin , Kentucky. He served the chickens in his private apartment next door. As a result, local awareness grew and Sanders expanded his gas station into a motel restaurant with 142 seats. Over the next nine years he experimented with the preparation of chicken and perfected the seasoning, which in the end contained the same eleven herbs and spices that are said to be the basis of KFC products today. Similar to the exact recipe of Coca-Cola , the exact Sanders recipe of the eleven herbs and spices for the KFC products is presented as one of the best-kept trade secrets. He used a pressure cooker , which significantly shortened preparation time compared to pan preparation.

Sanders (right) in his Corbin, Kentucky kitchen (ca.1930)

In 1935 he was awarded the honorary title "Colonel of Kentucky" by the governor of Kentucky . Sanders now used the title as part of his nickname and dressed in white linen in typical southern gentleman fashion as a characteristic of his self- marketing . In order to make way for a street widening, Sanders was forced to sell his property. From 1952 he devoted himself to the franchise business. Sanders traveled around the country roasting chickens for restaurant owners and their staff. If the response was satisfactory, he would sign a handshake contract awarding him a payment of 5 cents for each roast chicken cooked from his recipes. The first restaurant was founded in Salt Lake City . The concept was a success and spawned one of the largest fast food restaurant chains in the world.

Sanders divorced in 1947 and married his secretary Claudia in 1949. In 1959, Sanders relocated his company's headquarters to a new location near Shelbyville, Kentucky. He sold it in 1964 to an investor group that the later governor of Kentucky John Y. Brown Jr. was headed. At the age of 65 he had made his first million.

After his retirement as a cook, Sanders continued to work as an employee spokesman for the group. He appeared in most of the company's commercials in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s with the slogan "Finger-lickin 'good" ( English for "So good that you lick your fingers for it") and represented eloquently and with lively vocabulary his beliefs about the quality of the products, even if he was dissatisfied in a restaurant of his chain. In 1975 KFC even sued him for failing to make certain negative statements, but was unsuccessful in court.

Sanders was a member of the Christian Church . In September 1970, he and his wife were baptized in the Jordan River . He was friends with the Baptist pastors Billy Graham and Jerry Falwell . Sanders was a member of the Freemasons Association and was involved with the Shriners in providing free medical care for children.

Sanders Tomb in Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville , Kentucky

He privately bought back the company's headquarters and opened a restaurant there. The new owners of KFC considered the name "Colonel Sanders" to be a trademark of the company, and so Sanders decided to name the new restaurant "Claudia Sanders' Dinner House" after his wife. The restaurant is still open (as of 2019) and houses souvenirs and devotional items from the Sanders family. A second restaurant opened in a historic building in Bowling Green, Kentucky, but closed in 1980.

Sanders died of leukemia at the age of 90 . He was laid out in his signature white suit and black tie in the headquarters rotunda and buried in Louisville . A cartoon version of Sanders, played by actor Randy Quaid , later appeared in commercials , causing considerable consternation among the Sanders family. He left three children: Harland David Sanders, Jr., Margaret Sanders, and Mildred Sanders Ruggles.

His role was played in American television advertising by Jack Lemaire .

Aftermath

A stylized graphic of his laughing face is the trademark of Kentucky Fried Chicken to this day and can be found in every branch on signs, packaging, paper cups and numerous other objects.

literature

Web links

Commons : Harland Sanders  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Human Tradition in the New South By James C. Klotter 130
  2. ^ Edith Evans Asbury (December 17, 1980). "Col. Harland Sanders, Founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken, Dies: [Obituary]". The New York Times. P. A33
  3. ↑ The Human Tradition in the New South By James C. Klotter 142
  4. ^ The Human Tradition in the New South By James C. Klotter 153
  5. ↑ Harald D. Sanders: Life As I Have Known It Has Been Finger Lickin 'Good ( autobiography ); Carol Stream, Illinois: Creation House, 1974. p. 29
  6. ↑ Sanders Shriner , On the homepage of the Aloha Shriners (Honolulu) (Accessed June 9, 2013)
  7. ↑ Colonel Harland Sanders Freemason from the Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon website , accessed July 13, 2017.
  8. ↑ Claudia Sanders' Dinner House. Retrieved April 15, 2013 (Sanders restaurant after sale to KFC).
personal data
SURNAME Sanders, Harland D.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sanders, Harland David
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American entrepreneur, founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC)
DATE OF BIRTH September 9, 1890
PLACE OF BIRTH Henryville , Clark County, Indiana
DATE OF DEATH December 16, 1980
Place of death Louisville, Kentucky