Most folks know the friendly face of Colonel Sanders, the smiling, white-suited icon of KFC. But behind that famous image lies a truly remarkable American story of grit and determination. Born into poverty on a rural farm, this wasn’t a man destined for easy success. Instead, he lived a lifetime of hard work, trying every job imaginable – from selling tires to building ferries – just to keep going and provide for his family. He faced countless setbacks, but his spirit never broke, eventually leading him to a small Kentucky gas station where he served up something special that would change fast food forever.
That ‘something special’ was his secret recipe fried chicken, a dish so delicious he innovated an electric pressure cooker to make it faster than anyone else. But the real surprise? Colonel Sanders was 66 years old when he truly began building his global empire, turning a simple gas station meal into a worldwide phenomenon. He didn’t just create a successful fast food brand; he became the brand, driving cross-country, making handshake deals, and embracing his distinctive persona. His incredible journey proves that hard work, an unshakeable belief in your product, and the classic American Dream can lead to extraordinary success, no matter your age or starting point.
📖 Read the Episode Transcript
Adam, the story of Colonel Sanders and KFC is one of the best stories there is in fast food. There’s nothing else like it. This is a guy who was born into poverty, grew up on a rural farm. He’s basically an orphan. He raises his own family while his mother’s working after his father dies at a very young age, and he works every job imaginable for the first six, seven decades of his life. He’s selling tires, he’s working for the Chamber of Commerce. He’s building ferries, he’s working on trains, he’s trying to become a lawyer. He does all of these different things, and he finds success in some of them, and he fails at other ones, and he just he keeps trying, and he ends up in a small gas station that he owns in southeastern Kentucky, and basically his entire focus is trying to beat out the other gas stations for customers on the newly built roads that are happening in southeastern Kentucky, the Dixie Highway, and he ultimately succeeds by having excellent service and excellent food. And that’s the beginning of fried chicken. He loves it. He creates an electric pressure cooker, patents it to make fried chicken faster than anyone has ever made fried chicken before, and it is a hit. He gets written up in national publications, and eventually he turns this idea into a franchise. He goes around and patents the recipe and sells the idea on handshake deals to small mom-and-pop shops and diners all around Appalachia and the Midwest, basically just saying, “Here’s the recipe for my chicken. I’ll send you the seasoning, and you give me five cents for every chicken that you cook.” It’s the most homespun thing imaginable. It sounds completely insane today, but this is how he built his empire. Eventually, he started opening these standalone stores. And mind you, he was sixty-six when this happened. He was old. That was the standard age that you were suspected to possibly pass on at that point. That was the life expectancy, was where he was basically at when he decides to turn KFC into an empire. And he could have just retired, he would have been fine doing it, but instead, he goes out on the road and he just creates this brand that everyone falls in love with, and it expands around the world and he becomes one of the most famous men in the world after living in obscurity for so long, because he’s got this big personality, he’s got this drive, and he’s got this really strong belief in his product. And you know, the white planter suit with the tie, that’s all something that he came up with as a way to kind of brand himself. He was a Kentucky colonel, which is an honorary title in Kentucky, and he uses this to market himself as the Colonel. There are thousands of Kentucky colonels out there. There’s only one Colonel Sanders, and everybody knows who he is. He gets on television, he’s in movies, he becomes this character. He becomes the second most recognizable figure in the world, according to one poll in the 1970s. And that’s not something that happens to a lot of people. But through sheer force of will and a lot of skill, he manages to do this, and that idea is still a cherished part of the brand’s motto: doing things the hard way, the way that the Colonel did it. So this story of sort of perseverance and a real belief in self and in your own invention is a huge reason why we know KFC the world around. What’s great about the fast food story, and this is still true to some extent today, is you didn’t need a college degree or really great connections to make it in the fast food industry when it was starting out. Looking at the early stories of the founders, most of them didn’t graduate high school, much less go to college. They were salespeople. They were salesmen driving around the country trying to sort out a way to create a business model that would be sustainable. A lot of them served in the armed forces at some point and kind of learned what the meaning of regimented service and operations are. And they just worked hard and created a system that was very popular. So all of these really big American ideals that we cherish is hard work, and that part of the American story really come to bear in fast food. And it’s not just the big recognizable names, you know, there are also these small entrepreneurs who open franchises and are able to become wealthy in a way that you would think you would need connections or advanced degrees to get. And that’s just not the story of fast food. There are so many different people, all ages, all backgrounds, all ethnicities that managed to create something special in that post-war era.
And a terrific job on the production, editing, and storytelling by our own Madison Deicot, and a special thanks to Adam Chandler, author of “Drive Through Dreams.” And by the way, go to OurAmericanStories.com and you can hear the full story of so many of the other fast food and drive-through restaurants that were formed and founded by men and women just like Colonel Sanders. And this is the distinct nature of this business. It didn’t take a Ph.D. or a J.D. or a B.S. or even a high school degree. He wanted to provide better service for his customers and his gas station. He kicked around a long time. In his sixties, he finally lives that American Dream. But boy, does he hustle! And he’s driving from town to town selling his recipe and his patent. And by the way, the number of people who got wealthy owning KFCs and owning these restaurants, that’s the other flip side of this American Dream. It wasn’t just the product he created for himself, but the wealthy spread and, by the way, the yummy chicken. The story of Colonel Sanders here on Our American Stories. Lee Habib here, and I’m inviting you to help Our American Stories celebrate this country’s two hundred and fiftieth birthday, coming soon. If you want to help inspire countless others to love America like we do, and want to help us bring the inspiring and important stories told here about a good and beautiful country, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Our American Stories. Go to OurAmericanStories.com and click the donate button. Any amount helps. Go to OurAmericanStories.com and give.
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