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Colonel Sanders and the American Dream

Page 13

by Josh Ozersky


  NOTES

  Introduction

  1. “KFC Tries to Revive Founder Colonel Sanders’ Prestige,” USA Today, September 9, 2010.

  2. James Truslow Adams, The Epic of America (Boston: Little, Brown, 1931), 404.

  Chapter 1

  1. John Ed Pearce, The Colonel (New York: Doubleday, 1982), 7.

  2. Ibid.

  3. Don Ledington, interview with the author, Lexington, KY, April 20, 2010.

  4. In Pearce, The Colonel, 21.

  5. Ibid., 107.

  6. C. Wright Mills, White Collar (New York: Oxford University Press, 1951), 182.

  7. Pearce, The Colonel, 31.

  8. John Y. Brown Jr., interview with the author, April 20, 2010.

  9. Harland Sanders, Life as I Have Known It Has Been Finger-Lickin’ Good (Carol Stream, IL: Creation House, 1974), 43.

  10. Harland Sanders, Life as I Have Known It.

  11. “Poultry Slam 1999,” This American Life, WBEZ, November 26, 1999. http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/145/poultry-slam-1999.

  12. “Kentucky Town Re-Examines Its Racial History,” NPR, March 10, 2007. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7772527.

  13. Pearce, The Colonel, 51.

  14. Ibid., 53.

  15. Margaret Sanders, The Colonel’s Secret (Wellington, FL: Ibis Foundation, 1988), 101.

  16. Duncan Hines, Adventures in Good Eating (Bowling Green, KY: published by Duncan Hines, 1935), 89.

  Chapter 2

  1. In Pearce, The Colonel, 86.

  2. Ibid., 50.

  3. In Philip Langdon, Orange Roofs, Golden Arches: The Architecture of American Chain Restaurants (New York: Knopf, 1986), 30.

  4. In Edward G. Klemm Jr., Claudia: The Story of Colonel Harland Sanders’ Wife (Los Angeles: Crescent, 1980), 423.

  5. R. David Thomas, Dave’s Way (New York: Berkeley Books, 1991), 57–61.

  6. Harland Sanders, Life as I Have Known It, 98.

  7. Calvin Trillin, The Tummy Trilogy (New York: Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux, 1994), 332.

  8. Robert Darden, Secret Recipe: Why KFC Is Still Cookin’ after 50 Years (Irving, TX: Tapestry Press, 2002), 41.

  9. The Colonel would dispute this late in life, claiming, “I built Kentucky Fried Chicken, not on the name of Colonel Sanders’ Chicken—I could’ve used that just as well—but I chose the romance and the love and the historical name of Kentucky to add to the product. I figured it would carry better worldwide than it would be to look like an ego on my part, to say it was my chicken.” The first commercial use of the name, however, was at Harman’s Salt Lake City store. “Friday Flashbacks: Tribute to Colonel Sanders,” WHAS-11 (Louisville, KY), November 20, 2009, video. http://www.whas11.com/home/Friday-Flashbacks-Tribute-to-Colonel-Sanders-70657897.html.

  10. In John L. Crawford, It Wasn’t All Gravy (Louisville, KY: KFC Corp., 1981), 2.

  11. Ibid., 6.

  12. In Darden, Secret Recipe, 44.

  13. Pearce, The Colonel, 114.

  Chapter 3

  1. Frederick C. Klein, “John Y. Brown, Rich and Taking It Easy,” Wall Street Journal, April 1, 1975.

  2. Brown, interview.

  3. Ibid.

  4. Ibid.

  5. In Pearce, The Colonel, 125.

  6. Harland Sanders, Life as I Have Known It, 126.

  7. “Harland Sanders Is Dead at Age 90,” Louisville Times, December 18, 1980.

  8. Brown, interview.

  9. Margaret Sanders, Colonel’s Secret, 325.

  10. In Darden, Secret Recipe, 84.

  11. Brown, interview.

  12. In Pearce, The Colonel, 137.

  13. Brown, interview.

  14. Darden, Secret Recipe, 104.

  15. Ibid., 149.

  16. Ibid., 149–150.

  17. Ibid.

  18. Margaret Sanders, Colonel’s Secret, 325.

  Chapter 4

  1. Mimi Sheraton, “For the Colonel, It Was Finger-Licking Bad,” New York Times, September 9, 1976. “Col. Sanders Is Cleared of Libeling Restaurant,” Washington Post, March 15, 1978.

  2. “Franchising: Too Much, Too Soon,” Business Week, June 27, 1970, 54.

  3. Yum! Brands 2009 Annual Report, 8.

  4. William Poundstone, Big Secrets: The Uncensored Truth about All Sorts of Stuff You Are Never Supposed to Know (New York: Morrow, 1983), 20–21.

  5. William Whitworth, “Kentucky Fried,” New Yorker, February 14, 1970, p. 40.

  6. “The Visit,” What Is Cooking. http://pinesponderings.com/?p=14.

  7. “Franchising,” Business Week, 55.

  8. “Colonel Sanders Bowing Out,” New York Times, August 8, 1970.

  9. Harland Sanders, Life as I Have Known It, 131.

  10. Darden, Secret Recipe, 119.

  11. Brown, interview.

  12. In Darden, Secret Recipe, 121.

  13. In Sheraton, “For the Colonel.”

  14. In Pearce, The Colonel, 199.

  15. In Darden, Secret Recipe, 122.

  16. Ibid., 124.

  17. Darlene Pfeiffer, interview with the author, November 15, 2010.

  18. “Power to the People,” QSR Magazine, September 2000.

  19. Darden, Secret Recipe, 132.

  20. “Chain’s Fortunes Improved When It Rearticulated Its Mission and Strategic Plan,” Marketing News, July 9, 1982, p. 14.

  Chapter 5

  1. Darden, Secret Recipe, 136.

  2. “The Education of Hicks Waldron,” Forbes, December 8, 1980, p. 98.

  3. In Darden, Secret Recipe, 160.

  4. Warren K. Liu, KFC in China (Singapore: John Wiley and Sons, 2008), 69.

  5. In Darden, Secret Recipe, 170.

  6. “Mayer a Key Ingredient in KFC’s Successful Formula,” Nation’s Restaurant News, December 15, 1986, p. F8.

  7. “KFC Rules the Roost under PepsiCo’s Wing,” Nation’s Restaurant News, December 15, 1986, p. F3.

  8. Darlene Pfeiffer, interview with the author, November 3, 2010.

  9. Ibid.

  10. In Richard L. Papiernik, “David Novak: The Pizza Hut/KFC Quarterback Builds a Better Team on His Drive to a Fast-Food Touchdown,” Nation’s Restaurant News, January 1997.

  11. “New Colonel Misses Beat,” USA Today, July 12, 1999.

  12. “Poultry Slam 1999,” This American Life.

  13. Brown, interview.

  14. “Getting Burned by the Frying Pan,” New York Times, March 20, 1990.

  15. “KFC Shuns ‘Fried’ Image with New Name,” Nation’s Restaurant News, February 25, 1991.

  16. David Novak, Adventures of an Accidental CEO (New York: Crown, 2007), 107.

  17. In Papiernik, “David Novak: The Pizza Hut/KFC Quarterback,” NRN, p. D2.

  18. Seth Stevenson, “What Does KFC Stand For Now?” Slate, May 3, 2004. http://www.slate.com/id/2099747.

  19. In Rob Walker, “Chicken-Fried Bull,” Slate, November 10, 2003. http://www.slate.com/id/2090861. The press release was removed, wisely, by KFC.

  20. Ibid.

  21. Ibid.

  22. Emily Bryson York, “KFC’s Stunts Make Nightly News but Don’t Stop Sales Slide,” Advertising Age, April 19, 2010, p. 1.

  INDEX

  Page numbers in italics indicate images.

  American Dream, 3, 28, 86, 92, 118, 132

  Association of Kentucky Fried Chicken Franchisees, 83, 102, 114

  boosterism, 14–15, 24, 32

  Brown, John Y., Jr., 3, 47, 48–49, 102, 119; and KFC, 50–52, 78, 81–86, 87, 90, 93, 95–96, 114; and Sanders, relationship with, 48–49, 75–76, 84–86, 95, 100

  Brown, John Y., Sr., 47, 48

  Burger King, 123

  Calander, Ray, 16

  Church’s Chicken, 89–90, 108, 120–121

  Colonel Sanders (persona), 1–2, 23–24, 29, 32, 34–36, 53, 61, 63, 68, 71, 74, 101; as goodwill ambassador for KFC, 52, 76–81, 83–86, 87, 90, 94, 99, 103, 121; television appearances by, 35, 43, 77–80; use of like
ness, after Sanders’ death, 105–107, 110–112, 117–120, 122, 130–132; white suit of, 25, 34, 35, 77. See also Sanders, Harland

  Colonel Sanders Inns, 90

  Colonel Sanders Museum, 104

  Colonel’s Foods, 47

  Colonel’s Lady’s Dinner House, 98

  Columbus, Indiana, Chamber of Commerce, 17

  Coolidge, Calvin, 15

  Corbin, Kentucky, 19–20, 26–28, 32–34, 39

  Cox, John, 101

  Cranor, John, III, 113–115, 123–125

  Cuba, 8–9

  Darktown Strutters (film), 15–16

  Doyle, Donald E., 113

  eleven secret herbs and spices, 30, 36, 45, 93–96, 113; 99X mixture, 95–96

  Franchise Advisory Council, 102

  franchisees, 30–31, 33, 44–45, 51, 75, 98; corporation’s relationship with, 45–46, 83–85, 97–98, 101–103, 107, 114–116, 125–126, 128; Sanders’ relationship with, 45, 47, 75, 98, 103; suit of PepsiCo by, 46, 115–116, 125–126. See also Association of Kentucky Fried Chicken Franchisees; franchising; Harman, Leon “Pete”; Pfeiffer, Darlene

  franchising, 28–29, 45, 91; of KFC, 28–29, 76, 91, 110, 114–116; by Sanders, 30–31, 33–35, 39–47, 62

  fried chicken: cooking of, 3, 22–23, 33–34, 36–38, 64–67, 95, 121–122; cultural history of, 22–23, 38, 105–106, 110–111, 124; eleven secret herbs and spices, 30, 36, 45, 93–96, 113, 128, 129; Extra Crispy, 37, 89–91, 108, 130; health concerns about, 92–93, 122–124, 127–130; mass production of, 23, 37; Original Recipe, 37, 91, 94–95, 98, 108, 125–126; and pressure cooker, 34, 36–39, 40, 41–42, 65, 81, 131; served at Sanders Cafe and Service Station, 21, 23–24

  Froman M. Coots, 14

  Gibson, Robert, 20

  Grandin, Temple, Dr., 131

  Great Depression, 19, 21

  H. Salt, Esq., Authentic Fish and Chips, 90

  Harman, Arline, 39–40

  Harman, Leon “Pete,” 33, 36, 39–43, 46, 62, 75, 76, 89, 90, 103, 107, 109, 115–116, 128

  Hell’s Half-Acre, 19, 42; shooting at, 20, 42. See also Sanders Cafe and Service Station

  Heublein, 93, 96, 98–103, 107–108, 112, 114, 121, 130

  Hines, Duncan, 24, 26, 77

  Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels, 31–32

  Kamp, David, 117

  Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), 62, 72–73; advertising of, 35, 42–43, 45–46, 68, 77–80, 106, 117–122, 127–129; animal cruelty accusations against, by PETA, 130–131; branding of, 34, 36, 42–43, 76, 118, 125–129; competition of, 88–90; as a corporation, 4, 29, 44, 45–46, 75–76, 81–86, 87; finances of, 87, 91–93, 97, 103, 109; franchising of, 28–29, 76, 91, 110, 114–116; international expansion of, 110–112, 116; mismanagement of, by Heublein, 96–103; and name change to KFC, 93, 118–119, 122, 125–127, 129; naming of, 40, 136n9; product expansion attempts of, 89–92, 103, 119, 123–126, 129; “recolonelization” of, 107–108, 110; sale of, by Brown, 93, 96–97, 98; sale of, by Sanders, 26–27, 50–52, 75, 98; as a takeout restaurant, 41, 43, 76–77, 81

  Kentucky Restaurant Association, 24

  KFC. See Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC)

  KFC Express, 119

  King, Josephine, 10–11, 26, 27, 32

  King, Kenny, 75

  Ku Klux Klan, 15–17

  Laffoon, Ruby, Governor, 24, 25

  Ledington, Claudia, 7, 11, 30, 32–33, 35, 46, 47, 83, 95, 98

  Ledington, Don, 10

  Lewis, Stan, 78

  Liu, Warren, 111

  Louisville, KFC headquarters in, 45, 46

  Lums, 102

  Marion-Kay Spices, 95–96

  mascots, corporate, 1–2, 18, 76, 99. See also Colonel Sanders (character)

  Massey, Jack, 50–52, 75, 83–84, 96, 114

  Mayer, Richard P., 109, 112–113

  McDonald, Bill, 125

  McDonald’s, 28, 43, 76, 82, 91, 107–110, 119, 128

  Michelin, 18, 121

  Miles, Michael, 107, 109, 110, 113

  Mills, C. Wright, 12–13

  Monk, Henry, 8

  Mutual Benefit Life, 14

  National Restaurant Association, 39

  Novak, David, 92–93, 119, 125–126, 130

  Panic of 1893, 5

  Pearce, John Ed, 7, 8, 20, 25, 47, 84

  PepsiCo, 29, 112–119, 123–126, 130

  PETA, 130–131

  Pfeiffer, Darlene, 102, 114–115

  Pizza Hut, 29, 92, 116, 125, 129

  Porky Pig House, 50–51

  Poundstone, William, 94

  pressure cooker, 34, 36–39, 40, 41–42, 57, 104

  Prudential, 13

  Quaid, Randy, 117

  quick-service restaurant (QSR) business, 36, 122, 126

  R. J. Reynolds Industries, 108–112, 123, 130

  RJR Nabisco, 112

  Rotary Club, 4, 14–15, 16; and Four Way Test, 15, 19

  Salt Lake City, UT, 39

  Sanders, Claudia. See Ledington, Claudia

  Sanders, Harland, 53, 56, 60–61, 63–71, 74; army service of, 8–9; and auto accident, 18, 42; and Brown, Jr., previous business dealings with, 48–51; business sense of, 13–14, 17, 49–50, 52; and cafe business, 21–24, 26, 121; commission of, as colonel, 25, 31–32; criticisms of KFC by, 83–85, 90, 99–101, 121, 128; death of, 103–104, 105, 107, 125, 131–132; early life of, 2–24; and farming, 6–7, 8; and ferryboat company, 14; and franchising of Colonel Sanders’ Kentucky Fried Chicken, 30–31, 33–35, 39–47, 62, 95–96, 121; and gas station in Corbin, 19–21, 24–27, 32–33, 121; as insurance salesman, 13–14, 17; KFC corporation, relationship with, 75, 83–86, 97–101, 103, 105, 108; and the Ku Klux Klan, 15–17; and lack of education, 8, 17; legal career of, 11–12, 17; marriages and family of, 10–11, 32–33; as the Michelin Man, 18, 121; and motel business, 21–22, 24, 26; personality of, 3, 7, 11, 12–13, 24, 32, 50, 75,101, 132; and railroads, 9, 12; rerouting of U.S. 25, reaction to, 27–28, 32–33; as a Rotarian, 4, 14, 19, 24; sale of KFC by, 50–52, 75; and trip to Australia, 39, 40. See also Colonel Sanders (persona)

  Sanders, Harland, Jr., 26, 51

  Sanders, Josephine. See King, Josephine

  Sanders, Margaret (daughter), 19, 22, 27, 41, 51, 52, 77, 104, 119

  Sanders, Mildred, 27, 51

  Sanders, Wilbert and Margaret Ann, 5–7

  Sanders Cafe and Service Station, 21, 24, 26, 32–33, 58–59, 121–122; and rerouting of U.S. 25, 27, 32. See also Sanders Court and Cafe

  Sanders Court and Cafe, 21–22, 24, 43, 58

  Schone, Mark, 119

  Shelburne, H. D., 20

  Shelbyville, Colonel’s home and headquarters in, 44, 47, 49, 83

  Shell Oil Company, 19–20

  Sheraton, Mimi, 90, 100

  Smalley, Earl and Winnifried, 44–45

  Standard Oil, 19

  Stevenson, Seth, 127

  Stewart, Matt, 19–20

  Summers, Bill, 96

  Taco Bell, 29, 92, 116, 125, 129

  television, 35, 43, 77–80, 106, 117–119, 127–128

  Thomas, Dave, 34–35, 43, 120

  Topmiller, Shirley, 103

  Tortorici, Anthony, 101

  Tricon Global Restaurants, 117, 126

  Trillin, Calvin, 37

  Waldron, Hicks, 108

  Weatherby, Lawrence, Lieutenant Governor, 25

  White Castle, 29–30, 87–88

  Young and Rubicam, 117

  Young Businessman’s Club, 14

  Yum! Brands, 29, 92, 126, 130

 

 

 
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