Colonel Harland Sanders was born on September 9th 1890. He had a very tough childhood. His family was very poor and he was the oldest of three kids, with a younger brother and a younger sister. The father of Harland, Wilbur David Sanders, worked part time and his mother, Margaret Ann Sanders, stayed at home. Although their situation got even worse when Wilbur Sanders died when Harland was only 6 years old. So his mother went to work at a tomato-canning factory and Harland had to babysit his younger siblings. This is when Colonel Harland Sanders first had to learn to cook. When his mother Margaret remarried he escaped from home because his step-father beat him. From their, at 15, he faked his birth date and joined the army. After his term in the army he worked many different jobs such as a steamboat pilot, an insurance agent, a farmer, and finally he got a regular job as a fireman in the U.S. railway company. Earning a stable income Harland Sanders married Josephine King Sanders in 1908. They had three children together, a son, Harland Jr., who died at a young age and two daughters, Margaret and Mildred. Although when he was fired as a fireman of insubordination his wife left him with his two girls.
At the age of 40 he had changed jobs dozens of times. Harland was very disappointed in life, having barely any money and not very happy he wanted a change. So he bought a service station, motel and cafe in a town called Corbin in Kentucky. He carefully picked this location because many people traveled along that road from northern states to go to Florida or other destinations. Soon Harland Sanders was serving meals to his customers in the livng quarters since he didn’t have arestaurant. Qucikly his service station became famous in Kentucky where he served chicken, ham, and steak in a 11 spice seasoning. It was called “Kentucky Fried Chicken of Harland Sanders”. To keep up with all of his customers he bought a pressure cooker which were just barely starting to be on the market so instead of taking 30 minutes it only took about 9 minutes. Hrland was rewarded in 1935 when the governor of Kentucky awarded Harland the title of colonel for services to the state. At this point his was dish was talked about all across the country. Colonel harland Sanders realized that he needed to make his service station into something bigger. So in 1937 he opened Sanders Court and Cafe. Then in 1949, he got married again to his secretary Claudia Ledington, and was also awarded the title of Colonel once again by the governor of Kentucky. As a colonel, Harland started to wear a white suit with a black bow tie (this is still portrayed on the KFC logo.)
Although in 1956, Interstate 75 was built which bypassed Corbin. Colonel Harland Sanders was forced to sell the property to pay off his debt. Broke and living off his Social Security Check he moved to Shelbyville, Kentucky at age 66. With nothing to lose Colonel Harland Sanders took his pressure cooker and spices and traveled throughout the U.S. to try to sell his recipes to other restaurants. Traveling all over the U.S. Harland met with Franchisees. It took a long time before he found his first customer, from which he received 5 cents for every chicken sold. Since his business was growing quickly this wasn’t a bad deal. By the early 60’s Colonel Harland Sanders had a few hundred franchisees across the U.S. $ years later Colonel Harland Sanders sold his corporation to John Y. Brown Jr. with a deal where he received $2 million in cash and remained the face of the company in which he got paid $250,000 a year.
At age 90, Colonel Harland Sanders died on December 16, 1980. In his last years he was playing golf, traveling, and him and Claudia owned their own restaurant called “Claudia Sanders’ Dinner House”. Today KFC is still a huge chain with more than 39,000 restaurants in more than 50 countries.
Throughout Colonel Harland Sanders life he desperately tried to do what he thought he was suppose to do. In his earlier years it was to be a happy successful person. Although once he bought the service station he realized that what he thought he was suppose to do was own a food company. He worked extremely hard at his goal and in the end after many setbacks he achieved his goal. Over 30 years after his death his business is still huge. Colonel Harland Sanders achieved his american dream and did was he thought he was suppose to do.
At the age of 40 he had changed jobs dozens of times. Harland was very disappointed in life, having barely any money and not very happy he wanted a change. So he bought a service station, motel and cafe in a town called Corbin in Kentucky. He carefully picked this location because many people traveled along that road from northern states to go to Florida or other destinations. Soon Harland Sanders was serving meals to his customers in the livng quarters since he didn’t have arestaurant. Qucikly his service station became famous in Kentucky where he served chicken, ham, and steak in a 11 spice seasoning. It was called “Kentucky Fried Chicken of Harland Sanders”. To keep up with all of his customers he bought a pressure cooker which were just barely starting to be on the market so instead of taking 30 minutes it only took about 9 minutes. Hrland was rewarded in 1935 when the governor of Kentucky awarded Harland the title of colonel for services to the state. At this point his was dish was talked about all across the country. Colonel harland Sanders realized that he needed to make his service station into something bigger. So in 1937 he opened Sanders Court and Cafe. Then in 1949, he got married again to his secretary Claudia Ledington, and was also awarded the title of Colonel once again by the governor of Kentucky. As a colonel, Harland started to wear a white suit with a black bow tie (this is still portrayed on the KFC logo.)
Although in 1956, Interstate 75 was built which bypassed Corbin. Colonel Harland Sanders was forced to sell the property to pay off his debt. Broke and living off his Social Security Check he moved to Shelbyville, Kentucky at age 66. With nothing to lose Colonel Harland Sanders took his pressure cooker and spices and traveled throughout the U.S. to try to sell his recipes to other restaurants. Traveling all over the U.S. Harland met with Franchisees. It took a long time before he found his first customer, from which he received 5 cents for every chicken sold. Since his business was growing quickly this wasn’t a bad deal. By the early 60’s Colonel Harland Sanders had a few hundred franchisees across the U.S. $ years later Colonel Harland Sanders sold his corporation to John Y. Brown Jr. with a deal where he received $2 million in cash and remained the face of the company in which he got paid $250,000 a year.
At age 90, Colonel Harland Sanders died on December 16, 1980. In his last years he was playing golf, traveling, and him and Claudia owned their own restaurant called “Claudia Sanders’ Dinner House”. Today KFC is still a huge chain with more than 39,000 restaurants in more than 50 countries.
Throughout Colonel Harland Sanders life he desperately tried to do what he thought he was suppose to do. In his earlier years it was to be a happy successful person. Although once he bought the service station he realized that what he thought he was suppose to do was own a food company. He worked extremely hard at his goal and in the end after many setbacks he achieved his goal. Over 30 years after his death his business is still huge. Colonel Harland Sanders achieved his american dream and did was he thought he was suppose to do.