After that he was a railroad fireman, studied law by correspondence, practiced in justice of the peace courts, sold insurance, operated an Ohio River steamboat ferry, sold tires and operated service stations. When he was 40, the Colonel began cooking for hungry travelers who stopped at his service station in Corbin, KY. He didn’t have a restaurant then, but served his customers on his own dining table in the living quarters of his service station.
Eventually he expanded, moving across the street to a motel and a restaurant that seated 142 people. Over the next nine years, he perfected his secret blend of 11 herbs and spices.
His fame grew: Kentucky Governor Ruby Laffoon made him a Kentucky Colonel in 1935 in recognition of his contributions to the State’s cuisine. In 1939, his establishment was listed in Duncan Hines “Adventures of Good Eating.”
Disaster struck in the early 1950s when a new interstate highway by-passed Corbin, Ky., and seeing an end to his business he auctioned off his entire operation. After paying bills, he was reduced to living on his $105 Social Security.
In 1952 the Colonel started a chicken franchising business. He traveled across the country by car from restaurant to restaurant, cooking batches of chicken for restaurant owners and their employees. If the reaction was favourable, he entered into a handshake agreement that stipulated a payment to him of five cents for each chicken sold. In 1964 the Colonel sold his operation, which had grown to more than 600 franchised outlets in the U.S. and Canada. He did, however, remain as the firm’s public spokesman.
Until he was fatally stricken with leukemia in 1980 at age 90, the Colonel traveled 250,000 miles a year visiting the KFC empire he founded. It all began with a 65-year old gentleman who used his Social Insurance to start a business.
“Good afternoon, I have come ‘a-callin’ on Miss Colleen.” Words that Colleen Ryan, a child who lived next door to Colonel Sanders, will never forget for the rest of her life. The world-famous Colonel Sanders coming to her door asking her to come out to play.
The Colonel just loved to throw snowballs and with regularity would call upon young Colleen to be his snowball packer. Colleen’s mother Connie, tells the story of what it was like to be living next door to one of the world’s most recognizable people.
“Our Ryan family, Ken, my husband, myself and our three children, Kevin, Colleen and Tricia, lived on Melton Drive. One cold Saturday in late November of 1966, it had snowed overnight. Ken and I decided to go out to the front of the house and plan on where to put out our Christmas lights.
While Ken had gone back into the house to get his gloves, I stood on the driveway facing the house. I didn’t hear anyone walk up the drive behind me. Suddenly I heard a man’s voice say “Hello ma’m.” Turning, I was so very surprised to see Colonel Harland Sanders. He smiled and said “I come ‘a-callin’ on Miss Colleen to come walking with me.”
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