Colonel Sanders

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

Life

Sanders was born in Henryville, Indiana. He was the oldest of three children of Wilbur David and Margaret Ann Sanders. His father died when he was six years old. Because the mother had to work, he was responsible for cooking in the family. During the next ten years, Sanders worked many jobs, including as a fireman on the railroad, in a ferry company, as an insurance agent and as a volunteer in the army in Cuba.

Sanders married in 1908 Josephine King.

1930, at the age of 40 years, Sanders was preparing chicken for customers who came to his gas station in Corbin, Kentucky. He had at that time no restaurant, but served the chicken in its adjacent private apartment. This grew his local notoriety and he extended his service station to 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, the same eleven herbs and spices included that are supposedly still the basis of the products of KFC. He also used a pressure cooker, which significantly shortened the preparation compared to the pan preparation.

In 1935 he was the Governor of Kentucky the honorary title of " Colonel of Kentucky " awarded. Unlike many others who received this item, Sanders used it now as a nickname and dressed in typical southern gentleman manners in white linen as characteristic of his self-marketing. To make room for a road extension, Sanders was forced to sell his property. However, he did not build new elsewhere, but relied entirely on his skills as a chef. Convinced of the quality of its fried chicken, he devoted himself from 1952 onwards the franchise business. Sanders traveled all over the country and fried chicken for restaurant owners and their employees. When the reaction was satisfactory, he went in a handshake agreement, the zusprach him a payment of 10 cents for each according to his prepared roast chicken recipes. The first restaurant was founded in Salt Lake City. The concept was a success and spawned one of the biggest fast-food restaurant chains in the world out. Sanders himself was a well-known throughout the United States man.

1947 could be Sanders divorce his wife Josephine, and married in 1949 his secretary Claudia. 1959 Sanders moved the headquarters of his company to a new location near Shelbyville, Kentucky. He sold it in 1964 to an investor group, led by eventual Kentucky Governor John Y. Brown Jr..

At the age of 65 he had earned his first million.

After his retirement as a cook Sanders continued to work as a hired spokesman for the group of companies. He appeared in most of the commercials the company in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s with the slogan " finger lickin - ' good" (English for " So good that the fingers to lick afterwards. " ) And represented eloquently and with living vocabulary his beliefs on the quality of the products, even in the negative when he was dissatisfied at a restaurant of his chain. 1975 KFC sued him even to refrain from certain negative comments, but lost in court. Sanders also spread then further his views on the quality of the chicken roast.

Sanders was a member of the Christian Church, in September 1970, he was baptized with his wife in Jordan. He was good friends with the Baptist pastors Billy Graham and Jerry Falwell. Harland Sanders was a member of the Federation of the Freemasons and became involved with the Shrinern for the free medical care for children.

He bought privately back to the company's headquarters and opened a restaurant in it. The new owners of KFC considered the name " Colonel Sanders " as a hallmark of the company, and so Sanders decided to call the new restaurant after his wife " Claudia Sanders' Dinner House ". The restaurant is (2012 version) still open and is home souvenirs and memorabilia to the Sanders family. A second " Claudia Sanders' Dinner House " was opened in a historic building in Bowling Green (Kentucky), but closed in 1980.

Sanders died at the age of 90 from leukemia. He was buried in his characteristic white suit and black tie in Louisville, after he had been laid out in the rotunda of the central administration. Later in advertising appeared a cartoon version of Sanders, played by actor Randy Quaid, which led to considerable consternation on the part of the Sanders family.

He left behind three children:

• Harland David Sanders, Jr.
• Margaret Sanders
• Mildred Sanders Ruggles

Aftereffect

Logo

His portrait appears on the paper cups from KFC, and a stylized graphic of his face is a trademark of the Company; his role was played in the American television advertising by Jack Lemaire.

Recipes

Similarly, the exact formula of Coca Cola, the exact Sanders recipe of eleven herbs and spices is presented for KFC products as one of the best-kept business secrets.