KFC founder, Colonel Sanders Memorabilia And Former Home Go Under The Hammer
Personal items belonging to KFC founder Harland Sanders, including his trademark bow tie and a pressure cooker, are being auctioned alongside his former Kentucky property.
Harland Sanders, the founder and enduring public face of Kentucky Fried Chicken, is the subject of a wide-ranging auction featuring personal belongings, restaurant equipment and two properties closely associated with his career.
The sale includes Sanders’ former home in Shelbyville, Kentucky, as well as the Claudia Sanders Dinner House, which he established after selling the restaurant chain. The property became the first headquarters of his restaurant business in the late 1950s.
Sanders sold the property in 1974 to Tommy and Cherry Settle, who have operated the dinner house ever since. The restaurant and Sanders’ former 5,000-square-foot (465-square-metre) residence, known as Blackwood Hall, are being offered separately from the memorabilia, with sealed bids accepted until Friday.
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The memorabilia auction is being conducted by The Menish Group. Online bidding is followed by a live, in-person sale on Tuesday evening.
“Colonel Sanders was the original celebrity chef,” said Bill Menish of The Menish Group. He said interest in the auction had been international, prompting the organisers to accommodate bidders from around the world.
The Personal Objects Behind The Colonel
Among the items available are Sanders’ watches, an original cash register, his cutlery set, a bust created by his daughter and a commercial gas range from his former home.
His well-known black bow ties are also among the lots. One had attracted an online bid of more than $2,000 on Monday.
Auctioneer Jonathan Klunk said the apparently distinctive accessory has an unexpected detail.
“Not a lot of people know, he did wear clip-ons,” Klunk said.
Sanders sold KFC in 1964 to a group of investors but remained associated with the company as a brand ambassador. His recognisable appearance became an important part of the identity surrounding the business.
Menish described Sanders as a “marketing genius” and said the familiar Colonel persona was deliberately developed as the business grew.
“He didn’t dress like that before he was starting to build Kentucky Fried Chicken,” Menish said. “He adopted the colonel: the clothes, the bow tie, the glasses, the goatee.”
A Recipe With A Curious History
Among the more unusual lots is a 1964 personal planner containing a handwritten recipe for herbs and spices.
The document has a history of its own. According to the auctioneer, KFC Corp. filed a lawsuit in the early 2000s in an effort to keep the contents of the planner private. The company later abandoned the legal action after reviewing the recipe and determining that its ingredients did not correspond with Sanders’ famous secret blend of 11 herbs and spices.
KFC said at the time that the handwritten recipe was likely for stuffing rather than the seasoning used for its chicken.
For collectors, however, the distinction may matter less than the connection to Sanders himself. Menish described the planner simply as “What a keepsake”.
The auction offers a rare opportunity to acquire objects tied directly to the construction of one of the most recognisable restaurant brands of the 20th century, while also putting Sanders’ former home and dinner house on the market.
