Personal belongings of KFC founder Colonel Harland Sanders, along with his former home and a dinner house he opened, are currently up for public auction. The items include his pressure cooker, signature black bow tie, watches, an original cash register, and his cutlery set. Also available is a 1964 personal planner containing a handwritten recipe that was once the subject of a legal dispute with KFC Corp.
Sanders established the Shelbyville, Kentucky, property in the late 1950s as the first headquarters for his burgeoning restaurant business, originally known as Kentucky Fried Chicken. He sold the property, which encompassed his home and the Claudia Sanders Dinner House, in 1974. The current owners, Tommy and Cherry Settle, have operated the restaurant since then.
Bill Menish, whose firm The Menish Group is conducting the auction, described Sanders as a "marketing genius" for creating the iconic Colonel persona, noting that Sanders adopted the distinctive attire, including the bow tie, glasses, and goatee, specifically for building the brand. "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."
The auction is drawing worldwide interest, according to Menish. Online pre-bidding for the memorabilia concludes with a live auction on Tuesday evening. Sealed bids for the restaurant and Sanders' former 5,000-square-foot home, named Blackwood Hall, will be accepted until Friday.
Among the unique items is a Gruen watch owned and worn by Sanders. One of his signature black bow ties is also up for bid, with online offers exceeding $2,000. Auctioneer Jonathan Klunk noted a lesser-known detail about the bow ties: Sanders wore clip-on versions. The property itself, including Blackwood Hall and the Claudia Sanders Dinner House, represents a significant piece of the KFC founder's history.
Sanders sold KFC in 1964 to a group of investors but continued to serve as a brand ambassador for the company. The auction aims to offer collectors and fans a chance to own a piece of the legacy of the man behind the world-famous chicken chain.