After his mother remarried when he was 12, he went to work at a multitude of different jobs, ending up operating a gas station in Corbin, Kentucky. It was here, at the age of 40, that Harland started cooking seriously. Using recipes he had learned at the tender age of six, he would prepare meals for hungry travelers serving them in his gas-station living quarters. His food was so popular that he finally had to open a restaurant. Over the next decade, Sanders tried and tested, and again, tried and tested his fried chicken recipe until he perfected the 11 herbs and spices that made up his secret blend that is still tempting taste-buds in Kentucky, and now, throughout the world.

Sanders’ cooking had such a following that, in 1935, he was made a Kentucky Colonel for his contributions to Kentucky cuisine. Four years later his restaurant was listed in Adventures in Good Eating by Duncan Hines. However, it wasn’t until 1955, when an interstate highway was to bypass Corbin, Kentucky, and Harland Sanders was living on only $105 a month from Social Security, that he took to the road to franchise his chicken recipe and restaurant concept.

The first franchises were established by a handshake. Sanders traveled across the United States, stopping at restaurants to fry up batches of his chicken. If the owner and employees liked the dish, they shook Sanders’ hand, and paid him a nickel for every chicken they sold. By 1964, there were over 600 of the Colonel’s franchises in the U.S. and Canada. The 74-year-old Sanders sold his interest that year for $2,000,000, remaining on as its spokesperson until his death in 1980.

The image of the Kentucky Colonel still graces the signage at thousands of restaurants throughout the world. Harland Sanders would be pleased to know that we’re still enjoying his special flavors every time we order a bucket of original recipe, crispy crust or tender-roast chicken from KFC.