They just prepare you for something better,” “My wife and I spent many nights on the road, sleeping in the car,” Sanders once said. So, using his Social Security money and what he had made by selling his motel-restaurant-gas station complex in Corbin, Kentucky, Sanders had to drive thousands of miles before finally selling the first franchise in Salt Lake City. And they had to admit that his fried chicken was, as he claimed, “finger lickin’ good.”īut Sanders had trouble making them bite on the franchise idea. Restaurant owners were amused by the audacious little man in his black string tie and white plantation suit. He would ask a nickel per serving, the rest going to the restaurant. His goal was to franchise his chicken in 100 restaurants in Kentucky, Illinois and Ohio. But Sanders, nothing if not a man of vision, was intrigued by it. Harland Sanders set out one day in 1956 to make a new life for himself.Īt 66, the colonel didn’t have much to sell except his goateed, mustachioed image and his secret recipe for fried chicken.Īt that time, the concept of fast food franchising was in its infancy. Out of business, out of luck and virtually out of money, Col. Sanders made the most of a name & a recipeĪrticle from The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky) November 29, 1976 Looking back at vintage KFC history: Col.
The story of vintage KFC restaurants is unique not just because the chain became a huge success, but also because the company’s founder - a real person actually named Colonel Sanders - started Kentucky Fried Chicken past the age when most men retired.