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THE TRAGIC LIFE OF COLONEL SANDERS




THE INCREDIBLE LIFE OF COLONEL SANDERS

"KFC" is one of the largest fast-food chains in the world. I think most of us knew and heard about this because of its famous fried chicken. But it is also famous because of its founder and company's brand ambassador Colonel David Sanders. He created the famous but secret recipe of the Kentucky Fried Chicken. He lived both a tragic and successful life.

                                          


He had a tough start

He was born to Wilbur David and Margaret Ann Sanders on 9th September 1980 in Henryville, Indiana, US. Sanders had a younger brother and a sister. After his father died in 1985, his mother went to work in a tomato cannery. Because of his mother at work, Sanders had to look after his brother and sister. So he started cooking at a young age. He worked on a nearby farm at an age of 10. At the age of 12, his mother remarried and his relationship with stepfather didn't end well. He dropped from school to support his family. About the school, he once said that "algebra's what drove me off ".

His difficulty in finding a job 

After school, he had some tough time finding a job. He had done some numerous jobs. He worked as a farmer, painter, railroad fireman, streetcar conductor, ferry operator, secretary, tire salesman, insurance salesman, and also as a lawyer. He once had a fistfight with his own client during a court case. He also worked in the US army for a while. He was an honorary Colonel but nothing helped him to achieve the success he deserved.

His tragedies of life

 He was married in 1908 at a young age to Josephine King, with her he had three children. Because of his hard time settling into a job he used to have problems at home. She often used to leave him taking the children with her. Later in 1947, Josephine King divorced him because of their problems.  His son Harland Jr died at an age of 20 because of blood poisoning. Having a tough time in career and in personal life he was afflicted with depression. In 1949, he married Claudia Ledington.

Here comes the KFC

                                                         

In 1930 at the Corbin, Kentucky gas station, he started to serve the meals to travelers and truck drivers at an old family dining room table in front of the station. There is no fried chicken on the menu because it took a long time to cook. After the popularity of his country ham and steak dinners, he opened Sanders' Cafe across the street. He started cooking fried chicken but it took 35 minutes to make in iron pans. Later in 1939, Colonel Sanders used pressure cookers to cook the fried chicken coated in his secret recipe 11 herbs and spices. He was always about the quality above the quantity. 

The tragedy again

But in the 1950s he was again hit with the tragedy, the traffic junction situated in front of his restaurant was moved to another place which shortened his daily busy customers. This isn't it later a highway was built in a way that his restaurant was bypassed by seven miles. In 1956 he sold his restaurant with a loss in its sale. After some modest success, he was back to the point where he started.

The KFC Franchise

He traveled to the US to see for the potential franchise restaurant offering his recipe for a nickel on every chicken sold. His first franchise was Pete Harman a friend in Salk Lake City, Utah. It was a fast-food hit in Salt Lake City. Then he traveled across the country signing up for a new franchisee. He used to signup new restaurants by walking into the restaurant and cooking some chicken for the employees. If they approve he starts cooking for a few days for customers' approval and begins the franchise. By the year 1964, there were more than 600 outlets around the country.

KFC sold out

                                                   

John Y. brown Jr and Jack Massey approached Sanders to buy his company. Initially, he refused to sell it but later they convinced him. They promised to Sanders that they would never tamper with his recipe and to maintain the quality over quantity. He sold it for 2 million dollars and a lifetime salary of $40,000 per year. Even though he sold the company Colonel Sanders was the brand ambassador of KFC. 

He sued KFC

They later sold it to Heublein Inc. but sanders were not okay with that. They started taking off a percentage from franchisees rather than taking a nickel per chicken.  He stated that their gravy was "slop" and its owners as "a bunch of boozehounds". He disliked KFC so much which made him open "Colonel Lady's Dinner House" and wanted to build a franchise as a competitor but they tried to block it and sued him for their rights on Colonel. Sanders sued KFC for $122 million. Both sides were compromised in court and Colonel received $1 million and  "Colonel Lady's Dinner House" was allowed to reopen and it is still running. He was never truly happy after he sold KFC.

Death

In 1980 he was diagnosed with acute leukemia. He died at an age of 90 on December 16, 1980, of leukemia in Louisville, Kentucky. At the time of his death, there were more than 6,000 KFC outlets in 48 countries around the world. Brown once said that " he was the face of KFC".

"The hard way builds solidly a foundation of confidence that cannot be swept away"

                                                                                                       --Colonel sanders

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