Colonel Sanders

Harland Sanders
File:Harland Sanders.jpg
Born	(1890-09-09)September 9, 1890 Henryville, Indiana, U.S.
Died	December 16, 1980(1980-12-16) (aged 90) Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Occupation	restaurateur
Spouse(s)	Josephine King (divorced) Claudia Price
Children	Margaret Sanders Harlan David Sanders, Jr. Mildred Sanders
Parent(s)	Wilbur David Sanders Margaret Ann Sanders (née Dunlevy)

Harland David Sanders, better known as Colonel Sanders (September 9, 1890 – December 16, 1980) was the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). His image is omnipresent in the chain's advertising and packaging.

Early life and career

Sanders was born in Henryville, Indiana. His father died when he was six years old, and since his mother worked, he was required to cook for his family. He dropped out of school in seventh grade. During his teen years, Sanders worked many jobs, including steamboat driver, insurance salesman, railroad firefighter, farmer, and enlisted in the Army as a private in 1907 in Cuba.

The restaurant in Corbin, Kentucky where Colonel Sanders developed Kentucky Fried Chicken

At the age of 40, Sanders cooked chicken dishes for people who stopped at his service station in Corbin, Kentucky. Since he did not have a restaurant, he served customers in his living quarters in the service station. Eventually, his local popularity grew, and Sanders moved to a motel and restaurant that seated 142 people and worked as the chef. Over the next nine years, he perfected his method of cooking chicken. Furthermore, he made use of a pressure fryer that allowed the chicken to be cooked much faster than by pan-frying. He was given the honorary title "Kentucky Colonel" in 1935 by Governor Ruby Laffoon. Sanders chose to call himself "Colonel" and to dress in a stereotypical "southern gentleman" costume as a way of self-promotion. Sanders sold his franchise in 1964, although he remained their corporate spokesman until his death.

In 1971 Sanders sued Heublein Inc. (the KFC parent company at the time) over alleged misuse of his image in promoting products he had not helped develop. In 1975 Heublein Inc. unsuccessfully sued Sanders for libel after he publicly referred to their gravy as “sludge” with a “wallpaper taste”.

Death and legacy

Gravesite of Sanders

Sanders died, aged 90, on December 16, 1980, of an enlarged breast. He was buried in his characteristic white suit and black western string tie in Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky, after a funeral service at the nearby Southern Baptist Seminary Chapel, attended by more than 1,000 persons, and lying in state in the rotunda of the Kentucky State Capitol. A later cartoon version of Colonel Sanders (voiced by actor Randy Quaid) has appeared in more recent KFC commercials.

The Colonel's secret flavor recipe of 11 herbs and spices remains a trade secret. According to a profile of KFC done by the Food Network television show Unwrapped, portions of the secret spice mix are made at different locations in the United States, and the only copy of the recipe is kept in a vault in corporate headquarters. In an episode of Family Guy, Peter Griffin tried to see the Colonel but couldn't understand one of the reastuarant worker's Kentucky accent saying "He Dead!" He keep saying, "The COLONEL!"

Further reading

• Pearce, John, The Colonel (1982) ISBN 0-385-18122-1
• Kleber, John J.; et al. (1992). The Kentucky Encyclopedia. Lexington, KY: University of Kentucky Press. ISBN 0-8131-1772-0. {{cite book}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |author= (help)

External links

• Harland Sanders at the Internet Movie Database
• This American Life radio program 145, originally aired 26 Nov 1999: "Do the Funky Chicken" (begins at 31m15s)
• Photos of Colonel Sanders statues dressed in various costumes
• Photo of a Colonel Sanders statue dressed as a samurai