Colonel Sanders (real name Garland David) is the famous founder of the KFS fast food restaurant chain. The signature recipe of these establishments were pieces of fried chicken in batter, seasoned with a special mixture of spices and aromatic herbs. A stylized portrait of Sanders still flaunts on all restaurants and branded packaging of the company. In fact, Garland was never an officer. The title "colonel" he received from the governor of the state for outstanding public services. In this article, we will present his short biography.
Childhood
Many customers of KFS restaurants don't even know what year Colonel Sanders was born. Now we will fix it. Harland Sanders was born in Henryville, Indiana, in 1890. The boy's father worked as a helper for local farmers. This brought the family a small income and allowed the mother to stay at home with the children. But the boy's father died suddenly when he was six years old. To feed the children, the mother went to work, and the future Colonel Sanders sat all dayhome and looked after his sister and brother. Such a life allowed the boy to discover his talent for cooking. Within a few months, Garland was masterfully cooking some of the family's most popular dishes. Of course, the boy had no time to study, and he had to attend school in fits and starts.
First job
At the age of 10, he got a job working on a farm. He was paid only $2 a month. A couple of years later, his mother remarried and sent the boy to the nearby town of Greenwood. There he returned to the farm. At the age of 14, Garland finally dropped out of school. That is, the total experience of his studies was only 6 classes.
Find yourself
Until the age of 15, the future Colonel Sanders led a semi-wandering lifestyle, changing places of residence and occupations. And then Garland began to work as a tram conductor. At the age of 16, the young man decided to join the army. He ended up in Cuba, which was actually a US colony at that time. There, Garland served for six months and escaped, later getting a job as a blacksmith's assistant. Due to low wages, the young man decided to change his profession and become a stoker. In this position, Sanders stayed longer. Harland's life began to improve, and he even married his girlfriend Claudia. But after the appearance of the spouses' child, Sanders was unexpectedly fired. The wife loved Garland very much and was already used to his search for himself.
At one time, the future owner of "KFS" tried to do mental work - he entered the correspondence law courses for further work in court. After a few months, he got bored with this activity. Until the age of 40 hetried many professions: car mechanic, tire seller, ferry captain, loader, insurance agent, etc.
Life begins at 40
So imperceptibly for himself, Garland began to approach the fifth ten. He met his 40th birthday in a deep depression. All youth passed, and Sanders did not have a permanent job or his own home. Once he listened to a humorous speech by Will Rogers on the radio. And one of the comedian's phrases made a deep impression on Garland and turned his life upside down. It sounded like this: "Life begins only at the age of forty." We can say that from that moment the story of Colonel Sanders begins. Henceforth, Garland decided to work exclusively for himself.
Auto repair shop and diner
Small savings allowed Sanders to open his auto repair shop. He very well chose a place near the 25th federal highway, which connected Florida with the northern states. This provided a large client flow. The future Colonel Sanders lived with his family right there, at the auto repair shop.
Over time, Garland began to offer food to tired customers. He loved to cook and did it in the home kitchen, and placed visitors in a separate room. There was only one table and six chairs. The main menu was chicken, which Sanders did best. A year later, Garland had regular customers, and he noticed that it was the diner, and not the auto repair shop, that brought the lion's share of the income. It was decided to give a mini-institution title. Above the entrance, Sanders hung a sign that read "Special Recipe Kentucky Fried Chicken." He also came up with a technical novelty. Many of the diner's customers were often in a hurry, and half an hour to fry a chicken seemed like a very long time to Garland. The solution was found quickly. Sanders attended a promotional presentation of newly released pressure cookers, where food was cooked under pressure. He bought himself one of the models and learned how to cook juicy chicken in just 15 minutes. A pressure cooker and spices were the secret to cooking Kentucky chickens.
Success
For the first time in his life, Garland was satisfied with his own work. Firstly, he was paid for his hobby, and secondly, no one could fire him. The fame of Kentucky chickens quickly spread. By the mid-1930s, everyone who had been to the Sanders' diner perceived them as the "national" dish of Kentucky. Perhaps this was Garland's main success in introducing his product into the public consciousness. Many people did not understand how a person with a sixth grade education and incomplete law courses managed to achieve this.
Getting a rank
In 1935, Roby Lafoon (Governor of Kentucky) accepted Garland as a member of the honorary "Order of Kentucky Colonels" with the following wording - "For his contribution to the development of roadside food." The rank of colonel he received fueled a latent vanity in Sanders. He decided to build a restaurant and a motel near the auto repair shop.
New restaurant
The opening took place in 1937. KFC founder Colonel Sanders appeared before the guests in a white suit with a black bow tie. The look was completed with a wedge beard and gray hair.
This character was a huge success with the public. Now Garland always went only in a white suit. Customers lined up. The number of chickens sold could be determined by how much seasoning they needed. Sanders kneaded it like cement in the back room of a cafe. It could take several bags a day.
Those years were golden for Garland. Any problems only invigorated and forced to go forward. In 1939, an unpleasant event occurred, witnessed by Colonel Sanders. KFC burned down completely. But Garland rebuilt it in the shortest possible time. In the same year, Duncan Hines (a food critic) mentioned his establishment in his guide book, calling the Colonel's chickens a special attraction in Kentucky.
Loss of business
In pleasant troubles, the years flew by unnoticed, and Sanders was already thinking about a calm old age, but fate gave him an unpleasant surprise. At the beginning of 1950, bypassing the 25th federal highway, the 75th was completed. The client flow dried up overnight. In 1952, Garland no longer had enough money to maintain the FSC. Colonel Sanders sold it at auction to pay off creditors. At 62, he lost everything he had: money, home and job. The only thing Garland could count on was a $105 pension.
New business
ButColonel Sanders did not want to live as a poor pensioner and came up with a new business. He began to go around the nearest restaurants and cafes, offering them to use his author's seasoning. For this they had to pay him 5 cents per chicken. Very few agreed. Nevertheless, by the end of the 1950s, Garland had already partnered with 200 eateries. By 1964, the number of franchises had increased to 600, and Sanders received an offer to sell the business. The buyers were a group of investors who paid $2 million for KFS.
Recent years
At the age of 84, Colonel Sanders, whose biography was described above, published a book called "Life diligently licks its hands." In it, he fully described his life path. Having fulfilled this sacred “duty” to society, he retired, and until his death indulged in harmless pleasures like playing golf. The only thing that upset Garland was the change in the taste of Kentucky chickens after his departure from the KFS. In his interviews, he often stated: "They are too commercial and they cook chicken in any way." Sanders died in 1980 from leukemia. The colonel was 90 years old.
