SHELBYVILLE, Ky. (AP) — KFC founder Colonel Sanders ’ signature black bow tie, original cash register and dozens of other personal items sold Tuesday night in a public auction, while his former home and another restaurant he owned were up for auction later in the week.
With his distinctive wardrobe and goatee, Harland Sanders built global brand recognition for the chain originally known as Kentucky Fried Chicken. He has remained the widely recognized face of the worldwide chain after his death in 1980.
“Colonel Sanders was the original celebrity chef,” said Bill Menish, whose firm, The Menish Group, is conducting the auction. “The feedback has been worldwide, so we needed to have an auction that would cater to that worldwide audience.”
The largest sale of the night was $30,000 for Sanders’ personal 1964 planner with a handwritten list of herbs and spices that was the subject of an early 2000s lawsuit filed by the KFC Corp. to keep the contents private. KFC later dropped the legal action, saying after reviewing the planner the ingredients didn’t match Sanders’ secret blend of 11 herbs and spices and was likely for a stuffing recipe.
“What a keepsake,” said Menish, who became so enthused at one point in the auction that he knocked over the camera.
A clip-on black ribbon bow tie worn by Sanders, which he is depicted wearing in the KFC logo, sold early in the night for $8,000.
“Not a lot of people know; he did wear clip-ons,” auctioneer Jonathan Klunk said.
Along with Sanders’ signature white suit, glasses and goatee, the tie was among the defining elements of his public persona.
Menish called Sanders a “marketing genius” for creating the character of the colonel.
“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 1955 certificate naming Sanders as an honorary Kentucky Colonel was among the other top sales for $23,000.
Sanders’ pressure cookers, cutlery set, a bust of him sculpted by his daughter and his 1966 patent titled “Process of Producing Fried Chicken Under Pressure” also sold Tuesday. He is credited with revolutionizing fast food through pressure frying, a combination of pressure cooking and deep frying that significantly cuts down cooking time while keeping the chicken juicy and the breading crispy.
Sanders established the Shelbyville property as the first headquarters of his restaurant business in the late 1950s. He sold the property, which included his home and the Claudia Sanders Dinner House, to Tommy and Cherry Settle in 1974, who have run the restaurant since then. Sanders sold KFC in 1964 to a group of investors, but continued as a brand ambassador for the company.
Sealed bids for the dinner house and Sanders’ former 5,000 square-foot (465 square-meter) home, which he named Blackwood Hall, will be taken until Friday.
Associated Press writer Hannah Schoenbaum contributed from Salt Lake City.
