Take a moment to stare at KFC’s logo. You will notice the smiling face of a man with black-framed glasses and a white beard. Some may not know that this cheerful man is Colonel
Harland Sanders, the founder of the Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise and recipe.
The Life Story of Colonel Harland Sanders
Behind Colonel Sanders’ smile lies a tragic story of failures, setbacks, and countless rejections.
But even in the face of bad luck, Sanders still approached life with determination.
He never gave in to his failures nor let his misfortunes define him.
Birth and Early Life
Colonel Sanders was born on 9th September 1890 in Henryville, Indiana, to Wilbur David and Margaret Ann Sanders.
His father was a farmer with 80 acres of farmland.
He then worked as a butcher in Henryville after breaking his leg.
We do not know much about Sanders’ mother other than that she was a staunch Christian and strict disciplinarian.
Education
Colonel Sanders experienced childhood education differently than other kids. His father passed away when he was five, and his mother went to work in a tomato cannery plant.
She would be at work for days at a time, leaving him to care for his two younger siblings.
Despite being seven years old, Sanders cooked and looked after them until he became skilled at baking bread and cooking vegetables and meat.
“I’ve only had two rules: Do all you can and do it the best you can. It’s the only way you ever get that feeling of accomplishing something.” – Colonel Harland Sanders
Sanders dropped out of school in seventh grade to work as a farmhand. From when he was 10 until he reached 16, he worked multiple jobs, from farm laborer to horse carriage painter to streetcar conductor.
In 1906, he falsified his age and enlisted to join the United States Army.
Joining the Army
Sanders’ dream to fight in the army was short-lived. The military discharged him a year later, forcing him to get a job as a laborer in a railway company.
Sanders worked while pursuing a law degree. However, he also didn’t last long in this role, thanks to a fight with a colleague, leading to a dismissal.
Early Career
After his dismissal, Sanders lived with his mom and worked as a life insurance salesman.
He got dismissed again for insubordination.
He then started a ferry boat company and sold it to establish a lamp manufacturing company, but it failed due to competition. The failures didn’t stop until he reached 40.
Founding Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC)
In 1930, Colonel Sanders started a business preparing and selling chicken, steak, and country ham dishes to customers in a Shell service station in North Corbin, Kentucky.
This venture served as the foundation for KFC. However, in 1939, a fire blazed his restaurant to the ground. He relocated to a new motel, but the business had to shut down during World War II.
After the war, Colonel Sanders reopened his chicken restaurant and focused on converting it into a franchise. Sanders suffered 1,009 rejections before someone agreed to franchise his recipe in 1952.
It was Pete Harman, a chain restaurant owner and operator in Utah. Sanders’ secret recipe became an instant success, tripling the sales of Harman’s restaurants. Pete Harman hired Don Anderson, a sign painter, who coined the term “Kentucky Fried Chicken.”
“It came to me that the one thing I could do was cook. And I figured I couldn’t do any worse than the people running these places around town.”- Colonel Harland Sanders
The recipe’s initial success in Harman’s restaurants encouraged other restaurant owners to take up Sanders’ franchising agreement, which required them to pay Sanders $0.04 from every sale generated from his recipe.
Sanders later sold his North Corbin restaurant and focused on his franchising business. He spent the last half of his 60s negotiating with franchisees, serving his fried chicken as a sample, and traveling all over the United States, often sleeping in his car.
By 1964, more than 600 KFC franchises operated in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Australia.
Colonel Sanders finally decided to sell the Kentucky Fried Chicken Corporation to a team of Kentucky partners and entrepreneurs for $2 million.
He also sold the franchising rights in other states, such as Florida and Montana, and other locations, retaining only the rights for Canadian operations.
Personal Life
Sanders met Josephine King, his first wife, in 1909 while working as a laborer in the Norfolk and Western Railway Company.
The two got married that same year in Jasper, Alabama, and had three children: Margaret Josephine Sanders (born 1910), Harland David Sander Jr. (born 1912), and Mildred Marie Sanders Ruggles (born 1919). Sanders and Josephine divorced in 1947.
Sanders married Claudia, an employee at his franchising company, in 1949. He was recommissioned to become a colonel in 1950 by former governor Lawrence Wetherby.
“I’ve got no idea when I am going to retire. Whenever they pick me up and take me to the funeral home, I guess.” – Colonel Harland Sanders
Final Years
After selling his franchising business, Colonel Sanders lived comfortably until his demise on 16th December 1980. He died of pneumonia at 90 years.
At his death, the KFC franchise was in 48 countries and made approximately $2 billion in annual sales. Sanders was buried at Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville in his iconic white suit and black tie.
Closing Remarks: The Life of Colonel Sanders
Colonel Harland Sanders has been synonymous with the KFC brand and logo since the franchise’s inception. Walk into any KFC restaurant, and you’ll see his face smiling back at you. Despite the many setbacks and challenges Sanders encountered, he continued to pursue his dream of making Kentucky Fried Chicken a brand recognized all over the globe.
Sanders’ story serves as a lesson to entrepreneurs and businesspeople not to get discouraged by early setbacks.
KFC is today the second largest restaurant chain globally, after McDonald’s, with approximately 22,621 outlets in more than 130 countries and territories. Such success would not have been possible if Colonel Sanders had given up after the first few setbacks.
Despite serving in the military, Harland was an honorary colonel.
Colonel Harland Sanders Timeline
Colonel Harland Sanders Timeline1890:
Colonel Harland Sanders is born in Henryville, Indiana.
1900:
Sanders begins working as a farm laborer.
1903:
Sanders leaves school and relocates to work at a nearby farm.
1906:
Sanders fakes his age on his birth documents and enlists to join the United States Army.
1907:
Sanders gets discharged and starts working in a railway company in Sheffield, Alabama.
1909:
Sanders marries Josephine King in Jasper, Alabama.
1916:
Sanders returns to Henryville to live with his mother and becomes a life insurance salesman.
1920:
Sanders starts a ferry boat company on the Ohio River to serve customers in Jeffersonville and Louisville.
1930:
Sanders sells chicken, steak, and ham dishes at a Shell service station in North Corbin, Kentucky.
1939:
Sanders’ restaurant gets destroyed by a fire.
1940:
Sanders perfects his fried chicken recipe and rebuilds his restaurant.
1941:
Sanders closes down his restaurant due to challenges brought about by World War II.
1947:
Sanders and Josephine get divorced.
1949:
Sanders marries Claudia, his longtime mistress.
1950:
Sanders gets recommissioned as a Colonel by former governor Lawrence Wetherby.
1952:
Sanders franchises his fried chicken recipe to Pete Harman, a chain restaurant owner in Utah.
1955:
Sanders sells the North Corbin restaurant and focuses on his franchising ventures.
1959:
Sanders opens a new Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant, which becomes his company’s headquarters.
1962:
Sanders obtains a patent for his fried chicken recipe.
1964:
Sanders sells the Kentucky Fried Chicken Corporation for $2 million.
1965:
Sanders relocates to Toronto, Canada, to manage KFC’s Canadian franchise.
1973:
Sanders sues Heublein Inc., former KFC’s parent company, for using his iconic image to promote products he did not develop.
1980:
Colonel Harland Sanders dies of pneumonia.
Lessons Learned From Colonel Harland Sanders
Lesson One: It’s Never Too Late
Lesson Two: Giving Up is the Only Way to Fail
- What am I doing that isn’t working?
- What am I doing wrong?
- Is it the steps I’m taking?
- Am I lacking knowledge?
- What has worked for others, and how did they do it?
- Can I talk to someone to help me get on track?
Lesson Three: The Past Doesn’t Define Your Success
Frequently Asked Questions
The information in this post answers many of the questions about Colonel Harland Sanders. This section provides a summary and any additional information.
1. Who bought KFC from Harland Sanders?
Colonel Harland Sanders sold the Kentucky Fried Chicken Corporation to Kentucky businessmen and investors for $2 million.
These included John Y. Brown Jr., who later became the governor of Kentucky, and Jack C. Massey, an entrepreneur and venture capitalist.
2. Why did Colonel Sanders sell KFC?
Colonel Sanders sold the KFC franchise because expansion had become overwhelming, and he was 73 years old at the time.
He wanted to live the remainder of his life in peace and comfort.
3. What was Harland Sanders’s net worth at his death?
At the time of his death, Colonel Sanders was worth $3.5 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
He made his wealth from selling the Kentucky Fried Chicken Corporation and royalties collected from KFC’s Canadian franchisees.
4. Where is Colonel Sanders buried?
Colonel Sanders rests at Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville.
5. Why did Colonel Sanders sue KFC?
Colonel Sanders sued Heublein Inc., KFC’s parent company, in 1973 for using his branded image to market products he did not develop.
The case settled out of court for $1 million, despite Sanders’ initial ask of $122 million.