The Colonel Comes to Auction: The Personal Treasures of Harland Sanders Hit the Block
A first-of-its-kind auction of memorabilia and personal items belonging to Colonel Harland Sanders offered a look at the man behind the KFC mascot.
Colonel Sanders wasn’t just the face of Kentucky Fried Chicken; he was its founder. For the first time, a collection of his personal artifacts, given directly to the previous owners by the Sanders family, came to auction, selling at The Menish Group in Louisville, Kentucky, from July 28 to 31. Bids came in person and online, and reached high prices, affirming the legacy of one of fast food’s most famous figures.
Auction lots ranged from advertising materials to business documents to personal effects to kitchen equipment. The most recognizable item may be the black ribbon bow tie and matching suspenders worn by Sanders himself. Standing out against his white suit, these accessories, as The Menish Group said, were keys to “helping transform Harland Sanders from a successful restaurateur into the international figure known simply as ‘The Colonel.’” Appropriately for icons of advertising, they sold together for $9,200.
Another important lot marked the day “The Colonel” was truly born: the commission certificate that declared businessman Harland Sanders a Kentucky Colonel, awarded on December 6, 1955, and signed by Kentucky Governor Lawrence W. Wetherby. It achieved $26,450. “Kentucky Colonel” is an honorary title, the highest that can be given by the Governor of Kentucky.
Of course, plenty of the available lots depicted the iconic image of Colonel Sanders. There were several albums featuring photos of him, including one documenting a visit to Japan, one of KFC’s most important international markets. It sold for $1,380. The Colonel’s face also appears on the restaurant’s advertising, like an early display bucket with a 1954 copyright that bidders determined was worth $4,025.
The top lot in the auction was a more personal memento of both the brand and the businessman behind it. An appointment book used by Sanders, with “1964” printed on the cover, sold for an impressive $34,500. Sanders’s handwriting fills the pages with his business notes and daily routines. The auction house also notes that it includes “a handwritten page containing a list of eleven ingredients and associated measurements.” They confirm whether this was the Colonel’s secret recipe of “11 herbs and spices”, but it may be the secret to the lot’s price.
Harland Sanders was born in Indiana in 1890 and learned to cook as a child, making meals for his younger siblings while their widowed mother worked long hours. In 1930, after a long string of various jobs starting in his teen years, he opened a service station in North Corbin, Kentucky, where he started serving chicken to an admiring public. He opened his first true restaurant, also in Corbin, in the 1940s, which operates today as the Sanders Café & Museum.
Sanders sold the Kentucky Fried Chicken company in 1964, but stayed in the restaurant business. He and his wife, Claudia, established the Claudia Sanders Dinner House in the former KFC headquarters. In 1974, the Sanders family sold the Dinner House and their home, Blackwood Hall, to Tommy and Cherry Settle. The purchase included the extraordinary collection of memorabilia that sold at The Menish Group’s auction.
Images courtesy of The Menish Group.
Prices include a 15% Buyer’s Premium.
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