Harland David Sanders, better known under the pseudonym Colonel Sanders (September 9, 1890 - December 16, 1980) - restaurant chain founder fast food Kentucky Fried Chicken("Kentucky Fried Chicken", KFC).

Colonel Sanders first turned chicken roasting into a multi-million dollar business in 1952. His signature recipe is pieces of fried battered chicken, flavored with a mixture of aromatic herbs and spices. His portrait is traditionally depicted on all restaurants of his network and on branded packaging. Rank "Colonel" is an honorary title conferred annually by the governor of a state in recognition of outstanding service to public life state.

So, ready to hear him uneasy life story? Go:

Harland Sanders was born September 9, 1890 in small town Henryville in the US state of Indiana. Harland's dad worked as ancillary work for local farmers. He earned little, but the mother could afford to sit with the children. But when Sanders turned five years old father died suddenly. To feed the children, the mother had to go to work, and little Harland stayed at home for the whole day with his younger brother and sister.

Such a life revealed in him a real talent for cooking. In just a few months, Sanders learned to cook all the dishes popular in the family. There was no question of studying in such a situation. Harland had no time for regular school attendance, no money for college. At 10 he took a job as a laborer on a nearby farm with a monthly salary of $2. Two years later, his mother remarried, and Harland was sent by his stepfather to work on a farm away from home, because. I didn't really want to be involved in the upbringing of other people's children.

IN 14 years Sanders dropped out of school for good. In total, he studied there for six classes.

Abandoned at 15 Agriculture, He got a job as a tram conductor.

At 16 years he enlisted in the American army and went to serve as a private in Cuba. There our hero was engaged in raking horse manure in the army, and later got a job blacksmith's assistant. Then the rail rolling stock washer at the local railway, and later as a stoker in the fire department. Everything went so well there that Harland even plucked up the courage to propose to his beloved Josephine. (first wife) which accepted this offer.

Josephine did not want children, but 19-year-old Sanders was assertive: according to the official version, 9 months after wedding night the couple had their first child, a girl, Margaret. Two years later, Harland Jr. was born, and seven years later, Mildred was born.

After the appearance of the first child, Sanders was fired. However, the wife loved Harland enough to heroically endure his constant rushing from one job to another.

At one time, Sanders even decided to do mental work - he enrolled in correspondence law courses and got a job practicing in court. Soon the career of a lawyer ended due to the fact that on litigation He got into a fight with his client. The Bar Association revoked his license.

After that, and until the age of 40, Harland tried more jobs as an insurance agent, a miner, a furniture loader, a farmer, a ferry captain, a salesman. car tires and a car mechanic.

Mine He met his 40th birthday in a deep depression: youth passed, and somehow it turned out by itself that he had neither his own home, nor even permanent job. At that moment, he heard on the radio a speech by the then-famous comedian Will Rogers, who said in his humoresque that "life begins only at the age of forty." Harland later said that "That radio show changed my life". Henceforth, he decided to work only for himself, since he had small savings.

In 1930 in Corbin, Kentucky Sanders opened his own auto repair shop. The place he chose was not accidental: his enterprise was located just on the side of the 25th federal highway, which connected the Northern States with Florida. This provided him with a constant flow of customers. Harland and his family lived right there, in several living rooms at an auto repair shop.

The case slowly began to spin, and soon Sanders decided to offer some food to the road-weary visitors, especially he loved to cook. He cooked his own food home kitchen, and the client room contained only one dining table and six chairs. The basis of the modest menu was fried chicken, which Harland was especially successful in. Over the next nine years, he came up with and improved his "secret recipe" for pressure frying chicken, which cooks the chicken faster than in a frying pan.

In 1935 Kentucky Governor Ruby Laffoon made him a member of the honorary "Order of Kentucky Colonels" with the wording "for his contribution to the development of roadside catering."

With the money saved up, Sanders began building a 142-seat motel and restaurant near his auto repair shop. The establishment looked very much like a neat German farmstead.

The opening took place in 1937 under the Sanders Court & Cafe sign (Sanders Motel and Cafe). Sanders appeared on it in front of visitors in a luxurious white suit with a black bow tie.

From visitors now there was no release. When in 1939 the establishment burned down, Harland rebuilt it in a couple of months.

But soon life cracked again- completed construction new highway, to which the entire stream, which had previously passed Harland's auto repair shop, had rolled off.

It would seem that again a failure, the age is no longer young at all - 62 years old, Harland almost gave up.

And then came to the rescue... fried chicken! Yes, that's right, he strained himself, packed his suitcase and went to drive around the nearby restaurants with a single phrase: "I can cook fried chicken better than you."

He was refused again and again, an excellent cook in venerable years was suspiciously examined from head to toe and often not even allowed on the threshold. Let's mentally put ourselves in the shoes of a restaurant owner. You successful business, and then one fine sunny day, a rusty wreck drives up to your establishment, from which some strange old man comes out and offers you to first buy a chicken recipe from him, and then deduct money to him every month. Naturally, you ask him:

– Are you a famous chef?
“No, I’m not a cook,” the strange grandfather will answer.
- Oh, I see, you - owner of a chain of successful restaurants, and you expand it?
- I don't have restaurants. There was one, but I went bankrupt, - the pensioner honestly admits.
“Well, now I understand,” you guess. - You - well-known publisher of cookbooks.
– No, I am a simple person and I have only one chicken recipe.

It took a long time before he was able to find the first customer. Some sources claim that he traveled to 1006 restaurants before signing the first contract. Under the terms of the agreement, Sanders received only 5 cents for each of his chickens at each restaurant. Not bad, considering that order volumes have been constantly growing. Needless to say, already in the early 60s, Harland Sanders' clients were several hundred US restaurants. Later, he met Pete Herman, a Salt Lake City restaurateur who saw potential in the Colonel's idea and opened a new restaurant, Kentucky Fried Chicken, the first KFC chain.

And then the desire of Harland Sanders came true - he realized himself 100%. He found his favorite job, completely devoted to his talent. He made others believe in themselves!

When he was 70 years old, Kentucky Fried Chicken was at the height of his fame, and the old colonel decides to sell the company to private investors for $2 million and the position of company representative (face of the brand), for which he was paid about 250 thousand dollars a year.

Last years he devoted a lot to himself - he traveled, played golf, managed his own restaurant Claudia Sanders' Dinner House with his second wife Claudia.

In 1980, Harland Sanders has died at the age of 90.

Five steps to a million

1. Farmer, tram conductor, private american army, a blacksmith's assistant, a locomotive fireman, a law trainee in court, an insurance agent, a furniture mover, a ferry captain, a tire salesman, and a car mechanic.

2. At 40, life is just beginning: Sanders decided to work for himself and opened his own auto repair shop, which sold fried chicken best of all.

3. At the age of 47, he followed the lead of his clients and opened his own restaurant.

4. At 62, Colonel Sanders went broke when a new state highway passed away from his establishment.

5. Once again, the retired Sanders began to franchise the technology for cooking his fried chicken. And he became a millionaire at the age of 70.

“After I said the sinner's prayer, it completely changed my life. It really made a difference in me.” — Colonel Sanders, founder of KFC. The most famous founder of the fast food restaurant chain Kentucky Fried Chicken, Colonel Harland Sanders David was born on September 9, 1890 in Henryville, Indiana. After the death of his father when he was 6 years old, his mother had to go to work, and Sanders began to take care of his younger brother and sister on his own.

By the way, this predetermined his fate, since Sanders began to cook a lot and cook quite tasty, while all relatives began to note that little boy there are excellent abilities for this business. However, he began to earn this for bread only after 30 years.

After a while, his mother remarried, and Sanders went to work. It should be noted that none of his works was his favorite - and he had enough work. And what the future millionaire did not do - a farmer, a tram conductor, an ordinary American army, a blacksmith's assistant, a steam locomotive fireman, an intern in law courses in court, an insurance agent, a furniture loader, a ferry captain, a salesman of car tires and a car mechanic.

Perhaps, of all his works, the happiest was the work of a steam locomotive stoker - it was at that time that he decided to propose to his beloved Claudia, who supported him throughout family life and always believed in her beloved Harland. But the most fateful and even "title-bearing" - work in a car repair shop.

By that time, most of his life had already flown by, and he was still a small person who did not achieve anything, he did not have enough money to live for his own pleasure. He was disappointed in life. And, of course, he wanted to change it.

Yes, Harland was already 40 years old when he opened his first successful business - an auto repair shop on Interstate 25, on which many Americans traveled south from the northern states. The car service began to bring a decent income.

It must be admitted that Sanders showed himself here not only as a practical businessman, but also was extremely perspicacious - after watching the often hungry tourists stopping by him, he decided to open his own canteen, where he fried incomparable chickens with his own hands, adding his unique seasoning!

Chicken became extremely popular, bringing incredible income to the budget. A significant event in the life of Sanders occurred in 1935, when the governor of Kentucky awarded Harland the title of "Kentucky Colonel" for services to the state. Indeed, they were great - after all, all over the district they were talking about " National dish» State from Harland Sanders.

But soon life cracked again - the construction of a new highway was completed, onto which the entire stream, which had previously passed by Harland's auto repair shop, rolled off.

It would seem that again a failure, the age is no longer young at all - 62 years old, Harland almost gave up.

And then came to his aid ... fried chicken! Yes, that's right, Harland tensed up, packed his suitcase and went to drive around the nearby restaurants with the only phrase: "I can cook fried chicken better than you." And he was refused again and again, an excellent cook in venerable years was suspiciously examined from head to toe and often not even allowed on the threshold.

It took a long time before he was able to find the first customer. Under the terms of the agreement, Sanders received only 5 cents for each of his chickens at each restaurant. Not bad, considering that order volumes have been constantly growing. Needless to say, already in the early 60s, Harland Sanders' clients were several hundred US restaurants.

And then the desire of Harland Sanders came true - he realized himself 100%. He found his favorite job, completely surrendering to his talent. He made others believe in themselves!

When he was 70 years old, Kentucky Fried Chicken was at the height of its fame, and the old colonel decided to sell the company to private investors for $2 million and the position of company representative (brand face), for which he was paid about $250,000 a year.

He only needed to meet with the press, clients, employees, in general - to conduct marketing of the head, which, however, he was no longer. Well, he didn't need it.

Harland Sanders passed away in 1980 at the age of 90. In recent years, he devoted a lot to himself - he traveled, played golf, ran his own restaurant Claudia Sanders' Dinner House with his wife. Colonel Harland Sanders was able to make his life complete.

This part of the biography of David Harland Sanders may be known to many, but there is a lesser known part of the story of his life. However, one American preacher and author did his best to change that.

Dr. Bob Rogers, whose father Waymon Rogers was the Colonel's pastor, wrote a book about the legendary fried chicken entrepreneur. In this book, he reveals amazing facts about the founder of the KFC restaurant chain, Colonel Sanders. In it he tells the story of how his father baptized this famous billionaire in the Jordan River in 1967, shortly after he became a Christian.

Rogers writes: “My dad knelt beside him and asked, “Colonel, would you like to be born again?” The old colonel, with tears in his eyes, said, “I really want to, do you think that Jesus can really save me and free me from what I swear?” Then dad said, "Colonel, God will save you tonight and you will never swear again." That night, the colonel wholeheartedly accepted Christ into his heart. He was indeed born again and became a new creation in Christ Jesus. Since then, he has never used the Name of the Lord in vain.

A few days after his rescue, the Colonel donated $15,000 to Pastor Rogers' Church in Louisville, Kentucky, a very important amount at the time.

The colonel told the pastor, “After I said the sinner's prayer, it completely changed my life. It really made a difference in me." “I am ready to give a large amount of money, I want to give a tithe to the church.”

Dr. Rogers' book also recounts how the Colonel experienced supernatural healing when a colon operation was scheduled to stop the disease from progressing further. He was waiting for an operation in the hospital when his pastor, Rogers, came to pray for him. A day later, Sanders wrote: "I don't need any more surgery, my pastor came and prayed for me and God healed me!"

The doctor said: "Colonel, when I examined you again, there were no polyps!" Founder of KFC gave generous donations to the church for many years.

He later said, “My prayers have always been out of gratitude. God has been so merciful to me. I've always believed in tithing." “The Bible says you have to give 10% to God. I believe that even if you are a scammer, you still owe 10% to the Lord, at least for the fact that you breathe. Tithing is a great inspiration in my life."

In the middle of winter, I arrived in Burlington, Vermont. All business matters that needed to be done were settled and completed in three days. I started getting ready to leave home, but suddenly I thought: why not combine business with pleasure and spend a couple of days at the Cochran ski resort, which was only half an hour away by car? So I did, went to this resort, rented skis and enjoyed skiing for two days. Each of these days, early in the morning, I went to the ski lifts, fortunately not far away, and returned to the city to spend the night. The mountains in Vermont are quite low and good mostly for kids and beginners, not like Colorado or Utah where my wife and I usually ride. But what is - that is, and thanks for that.

By the end of the second day, when it was already getting dark and the lifts were supposed to stop in a quarter of an hour, for the last trip upstairs I sat down in a chair hooked to the cable. A gentleman of about seventy-five sat next to me, we closed the damper and slowly swam to the top of the rolled snow track. The neighbor's face seemed familiar to me and I soon remembered him - it was none other than Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, an unsuccessful candidate for US President in the last primaries. I said hello, and he was delighted to be recognized in his ski gear.

We rolled down together, and despite his age, he turned out to be a rather dashing skier, and I could hardly keep up with him. When we took off our skis and I began to say goodbye, Bernie noticed that I had an accent and asked where I would be from? When I answered that my roots are in Russia, he smiled: "Mine too." To which I said that in this case we were almost fellow countrymen, and asked if he had come here to ski for a long time? He replied that he was right now returning to Burlington, where he has a house, and added that he would go to the bus station - from where the shuttle goes to the city. Then I suggested that I could give him a lift - I have a rented car, I am also returning to Burlington, and it will be more fun to drive together. Bernie happily accepted my offer, I ran into the building, handed in the rental skis, and we went to the parking lot to my car.

On the way, he caustically asked about me and my political views, but I, knowing that he was an official socialist (and perhaps even a communist at heart), did my best to dodge questions, trying not to hook him with my conservatism. I do not enter into discussions with liberals, communists and socialists, knowing that their ideas are not based on sober logic and common sense, but on faith, it seems like a religion, and in matters of faith, the discussion is meaningless. Soon we drove into the city and a few minutes later we drove up to a snow-covered house. Bernie got out of the car, unloaded his skis from the trunk, and when I was about to leave, he said to me:

Can you come warm up? Where are you in a hurry? Today I am also alone, my wife went to her sister. Let's drink coffee, chat, and then go to your hotel.

I gladly agreed, parked the car at his garage, and we went inside. Bernie explained that he bought this house a long time ago, when he was mayor of the city, and now he only stays in it when he comes to Vermont from Washington. It was a small two-story cottage typical of New England, furnished with beautiful old furniture, but without ostentation. On the walls of the living room, there were many family photos of the owners of the house with children and grandchildren, and everywhere there was a smiling face of Bernie Sanders himself, along with Democratic senators and Presidents Clinton and Obama. While he lit the fire and busied himself with the coffee maker in the kitchen, I walked along the walls and looked at the pictures. Unexpectedly, one photograph caught my attention - it was a portrait of Trotsky. When Bernie entered the living room with cups and a coffee pot on a tray, I asked him, pointing to a photograph of the tribune of the Russian revolution:

I thought you were a socialist, but it turns out you are a Trotskyist.

Yes, - the senator chuckled, - I am a Trotskyist, but not quite in the sense that you think. Now let me explain, - he continued, looking at my surprised face, - this gentleman in a beard and mustache, whom everyone knows as Leon Trotsky, is my own ... father. Yes, yes, not only spiritual, but native.

Here I almost dropped a cup of coffee:

So like a father? Wait, wait… If my memory serves me, you were born in 1941…

Yes, - answered the owner of the house, flattered that I remember, - in September, the eighth.

Then it doesn't fit! Trotsky was killed in August 1940...

Do you always believe what they write in newspapers and books? History is a flexible thing - one clicker will come up with some kind of “fact”, write about it, and then they rewrite everything from him along the chain. After a while, such a notion becomes sort of like a historical truth. In fact, everything was completely different. This happens all the time. That is, history is not what really happened, but what people think it was like. Or they want to think for some reason. For some reason, history is called science, but for me it's just fiction. If you're interested in knowing the truth about Trotsky, take a seat right here by the fireplace, have coffee and cookies, and I'll tell you. winter evenings in our area are long, and today I am in a chatty mood (remembering the election campaign of Senator Sanders, I thought that not only today).

I sat down in an armchair at the coffee table by the fireplace, and the senator went over to the bookcase and removed a small photo album from the shelf. Turned some thick pages, found what I was looking for and showed me old photo young black haired woman

This is my mother Dora Glassberg. It was taken around the time when she met Trotsky, that is, at the end of 1940. However, let's go in order, otherwise you will get confused.

Bernie pulled another chair closer to the fireplace, settled comfortably in it with a cup of coffee in his hand and continued:

I'm sure you know that in 1929 Stalin exiled Trotsky to Turkey, and then Leon, fearing for his life, went as far as possible - to Mexico. There he began to write the book "Stalin", where he literally turned this tyrant inside out. By the way, this book is on my shelf. Or rather, only the first volume, since the second volume remained unfinished. In Mexico City, Trotsky first lived in the house of the communist artist Diego Rivera and his wife, the artist Frida Kahlo. It’s inconvenient to talk like that about my father, but my father was always a big walker, he didn’t let a single interesting woman pass. He even managed to seduce Frida, although she moved in a wheelchair. However, this does not apply to my story.

In short, Stalin decided to get his father in Mexico as well. He entrusted the best Soviet specialist in wet cases, Naum Eitingon, a general of the NKVD, with the task of liquidating it. But here Trotsky was unspeakably lucky. The general secretly treated him with reverence, as an organizer of the Red Army and a person close to Lenin. Therefore, he decided to save Trotsky, but to do everything in such a way as to create the illusion that he had completed Stalin's task.

Here begins the most interesting. Eitingon had a female agent, Sylvia Angeloff, whom he introduced into Trotsky's entourage in Mexico as a secretary. She was the only one the general trusted. He did not even tell Trotsky himself about the plan for his salvation, he was afraid that he would spill the beans. Therefore, everything was prepared in the deepest secrecy. Trotsky lived in a house fortified like a fortress on the outskirts of the city, and it was not easy to get close to him.

I read, I said, that Trotsky was first tried to be killed by a group of Mexican thugs led by the famous communist artist David Alfaro Siqueiros.

Yes, it was. They decided to shoot at Trotsky's bedroom from the street at night, but Leon and his wife hid behind an oak bed, so the attempt failed, and Siqueiros and his gang ended up behind bars. After that, on a tip from Eitingon, Sylvia advised Trotsky to pick up a double for himself. They found one Mexican peasant, vaguely similar to his father, grew a beard and mustache for him, dyed his hair, dressed him up, and when Trotsky worked in the office, the double walked in the garden behind the house, sometimes went out the gate to the street to a neighboring shop for tequila. He looked pretty similar. Even the guards confused them. Sometimes they did the opposite, the father walked in the garden, and the double sat in his office at the table.

How do you know all this, I asked.

What do you mean how do I know? I know first hand, from my father. But listen further. Ever since the Spanish Civil War, Eitingon had a Spanish mistress, Caridad Mercader. Her son Ramon was sent by General Eitingon to Mexico to simulate the assassination of Trotsky. Of course, Ramon had no idea that this was an imitation, he was sure that he would really kill. Sylvia brought him to her father and introduced him as a Spanish Trotskyist and her fiancé. In August 1940, Eitingon himself came to Mexico to lead the operation and gave Ramon the order of Stalin-Trotsky to kill him with an ax. There is an interesting psychological nuance here. Stalin has been obsessed with killing with an ax since the time when his friend Kamo, at the request of Koba-Stalin, hacked to death with an ax Stalin's hated drunken father Vissarion. In addition, Stalin saw himself as the spiritual heir to Ivan the Terrible and Peter the Great - they also chopped off the heads of their enemies with axes. However, in Mexico, an ax is not at all easy to find. At first they decided to use a machete, but how to sneak it into the house past the guards? Then we stopped at a small ice ax for climbers - although not quite an ax, but close.

On August 20, 1940, Sylvia informed Trotsky that another assassination attempt was being prepared on him and that he urgently needed to hide. He changed into a simple shirt and canvas trousers, put on a sombrero hat, disguised as a gardener, left the house with a trash basket on his shoulders, left the basket in a neighboring street, got into Eitingon's car, and they drove off. Meanwhile, Mercader went into Trotsky's office, where a double was sitting at the table and leafing through a magazine, took an ice pick out of his raincoat, came up behind him and hit him on the head. Guards came running to the cries of the double, Ramon was seized, the imaginary Trotsky was taken to the hospital, where he died. And Eitingon brought the real Trotsky to the United States.

Does anyone in the US know about this? I mean officials.

What are you, no one knew! In those years, entering the United States from Mexico was as easy as shelling pears, they didn’t even ask for any documents. Eitingon said that for the sake of conspiracy, Trotsky needed to change his name and asked which one he would choose? Leon thought for a moment and answered that he had had to change names more than once before the revolution. His real name was Bronstein, which came from the German Braunstein, that is, brown sandstone. Now, as he said, "his past life, like a stone under a blow of a hammer, crumbled into sand (sand)", so let his new surname be something like "Sands", that is, in English Sanders (Sanders).

As far as I understand, Stalin and all his entourage really believed that Trotsky was killed. So it is still written everywhere ...

Of course, Sanders said, although after Stalin's death, the Soviet leadership somehow found out the truth. Khrushchev, a loyal Stalinist, became terribly angry and ordered Eitingon to be arrested and put in jail. There he died in prison.

Eitingon first brought him to Brooklyn, New York, and settled with my future mother. She was a communist and happily hid another communist, Leon Sanders, in her house for a while, although she had no idea at the time that it was Trotsky. He lived with her for four months, but then he himself decided that he needed to hide away, somewhere in the outback. Still, New York is a bad place to hide. My mother by that time was pregnant with me by him and Leon knew about it. Then he was already 60 years old, however, as a man he was anywhere!

In early 1941, Sanders moved to Kentucky, to the city of Louisville, where he settled. The police said that he had lost his driver's license and they gave him a new one. America was then a patriarchal country, and everyone was taken at their word. In memory of the fact that twenty years earlier he had led the civil war in Russia, Sanders-Trotsky even decided to take military rank. But what? Not a general - that would draw attention to him and might raise unwanted questions. Therefore, he settled on the modest rank of “colonel” and since then he has presented himself to everyone: “Colonel Sanders”, and where he served and in which branches of the military no one delicately asked.

What was he doing there in Kentucky? What did you live on? I asked.

He decided that it was necessary to put an end to past affairs - no articles, no books, complete secrecy, otherwise Stalin would find out the truth and would definitely get to him. He had no money, and in order to earn a living, he first got a job in a restaurant washing dishes. Soon he became a chef there. One day he remembered how many years ago his mother cooked wonderfully fried chicken according to her own method, and he decided to try that old recipe that I remember from my childhood. Immediately this dish became very popular. The people went to the restaurant in succession. After a while, my father quit and opened his own restaurant, which he called "Kentucky Fried Chicken" (Kentucky Fried Chicken or KFC). The business was successfully promoted, and a year later he was able to open several more of the same restaurants in Louisville and other cities. Organization and leadership were his passion, and the restaurant business gave him the opportunity to prove himself as a leader again. He has always been a successful leader - in revolution, in war, and in business. KFC expanded all over America and he became quite wealthy. To advertise the company, the father decided to use his own face, reasonably believing that it would never occur to anyone that Trotsky and Colonel Sanders were the same person. Moreover, everyone considered Trotsky dead.

Now I remember reading about it somewhere,” I said.

The truth came out after his death,” Sanders said. - They wrote about it, but there was a lot of speculation and nonsense. If you go to the Internet, you will find a lot of half-truths there.

Well, how are you? Did he somehow maintain contact with your mother, help you?

Oh yes, the senator answered, he called her often and when he started earning he sent money until she got married and her husband adopted me. But I kept my last name after my father. He paid for my university education. I remember when I was five or seven years old, my father came to Brooklyn, we went to Coney Island, where he rode me on a carousel. In later years, he often came to New York, and when I grew up, I myself began to visit him in Louisville. At first, my father hoped to introduce me to the chicken business, he wanted to transfer the whole company to me, but I was only interested in politics - you see, the genes showed themselves. Then he began to give me his old articles and books to read, which were on English language. We often talked about the working class, the bourgeoisie, and the theory of permanent revolution. I am proud that I was not only his son, but also a student.

An interesting detail is that fifty years ago, that is, at the end of 1967, a young man appeared on the threshold of his house, who introduced himself in Russian as the second secretary of the Soviet embassy in Washington. He said that the Kremlin knew the truth about his fate and condemned Stalin's attempts to kill him. He added that they highly appreciated Trotsky's enormous contribution to the Russian revolution and civil war, but for political reasons they do not want to talk about it publicly. The diplomat said that the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Red Army was approaching and, on behalf of the government, invited Colonel Sanders to come to Moscow for the celebration. My father was then already 88 years old, and he was rather weak, but he agreed, reasonably believing that times had changed and now he had nothing to fear. That evening he called me and invited me to go with him to Soviet Russia. It was very interesting to me, and I gladly agreed.

We flew to Moscow in February, we were received in complete secrecy, but with great honors. They settled in the Moscow Hotel, which is not far from Red Square. They took him to the Mausoleum to Lenin, made a tour of the city, but my father didn’t know much, because so many years had passed since his departure! Then there was a military parade on Red Square, we were sitting on the guest podium near the Mausoleum. With great triumph in the Kremlin, Brezhnev presented his father with the Order of Lenin for his services in organizing the Red Army. A private banquet in his honor was attended by their entire government. There were toasts and lots of amazing food. I have never eaten so delicious before or after. There, for the first time, I heard my father speak Russian, and I was completely amazed by it. No correspondents were allowed there, but I had a camera with me and I was able to take a couple of pictures. Look here.

Sanders opened the album again and found a photo of his father with Brezhnev. With his permission, I copied this picture. Bernie then told me that Trotsky-Sanders lived long life and died at the age of 94.

I think many people know such a chain of fast food restaurants as KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken — direct competitor McDonald's).

Therefore, today I want to offer you to get acquainted with the success story Garland David Sanders founder of this network. By the way, not so long ago this network settled and opened in Kyiv.

But first of all, I draw attention to the founder of this chain of fast food restaurants. After all, real success came to Garland after 70 years.

Becoming a millionaire thanks to the created brand KFC, thereby proving that you can become a millionaire at any age.

Conductor, private, stoker, loader, car mechanic

Garland David Sanders(English) Harland David Sanders), better known by the nickname Colonel Sanders(Eng. Colonel Sanders) ( September 9, 1890 - December 16, 1980) - founder of a chain of fast food restaurants Kentucky Fried Chicken (« Fried chicken from Kentucky", KFC).

He first turned chicken roasting into a multi-million dollar business in 1952. His signature recipe is fried chicken chunks seasoned with a mixture of aromatic herbs and spices. His stylized portrait is traditionally depicted on all restaurants of his network and on branded packaging.

In fact, Sanders was never an army officer. The rank of "Colonel" is an honorary title awarded annually by the governor of a state for outstanding service to the public life of the state.

It is noteworthy that Sanders completed only six classes (once again I am convinced that having an education is not a sign of success), and he fried his first chickens at the age of six.

He opened his own restaurant only at the age of 47, and his fried chicken has become a culinary symbol of the state of Kentucky.

I must say that Garland finally had some decent money to live on. Stable income prompted young man To important event in his life - he proposed to a girl named Claudia, with whom he lived his entire subsequent life.

After the wedding, the life of the Sanders family was not easy - Garland was fired from his position as a fireman almost instantly. Over the following years, he tried a lot of other professions, but never found a single one that he could hold out on. for a long time.

In such a situation, any marriage would be on the verge, but not the Sanders. The wife endured all the problems of her husband steadfastly, and until the last she believed in him. And, not in vain.

And he knows how to cook chickens!

TO 40 years old Garland managed to change several dozen professions. He traded tires, was a stoker, a military man, a conductor, helped farmers, worked as a peddler and much, much more.

It would seem that the typical fate of a person who has completed only 6 classes. One time Sanders tried to get an education by enrolling in law courses. But for unknown reasons, he never finished them.

However, by the time Garland was in his 40s, he had little capital accumulated over the years. This money had to be managed somehow.

For a long time, Sanders was out of sorts. Most of his life has flown by, and he is still a small man who has achieved nothing, does not have enough money to live in pleasure. He was disappointed in life.

And, of course, he wanted to change it. For starters, stop exchanging uninteresting work for him.

Starting a business

In 1930, Garland opened his auto repair shop in Kentucky. It is worth noting important point– Garland considered the location of his workshop quite seriously, choosing for the workshop the best place- roadside of the 25th federal highway.

On this road, people traveled to Florida from the northern states. The flow of customers was very high.

And then Sanders came up with a smart idea - to open a small dining room for customers who are waiting for everyone to pass repair work over their car (Sanders' workshop did the most basic work, such as changing engine oil, tires, etc.). There was no special place for the dining room.

Therefore, Garland allocated one room of the workshop for him (his family lived in several others).

This room contained a dining table and 6 chairs. Sanders cooked food right in the home kitchen. Soon, his auto repair shop became famous throughout Kentucky. With his fried chicken.

It was called "Kentucky Fried Chicken by Garland Sanders".

All clients noted the quality of his seasoning, which he prepared from 11 different spices. Life began to improve.

In order to increase his income, Garland introduces some innovation - acquiring a pressure cooker. This was the time when this kind of pans only appeared. One of the first people to appreciate the benefits of pressure cookers was Harland Sanders.

Whereas chicken used to take around 30 minutes to cook, this time has now been reduced to 15. This meant that customers didn't have to wait as long for their food, which contributed to an increase in the number of orders.

A significant event in the life of Sanders occurred in 1935, when the governor of Kentucky, Ruby Laffoon, awarded Garland the title " Kentucky Colonel for services to the state. Indeed, they were great - after all, all over the district they were talking about " National dish» State from Garland Sanders.

The rank of colonel, albeit an honorary one, fueled deep-seated vanity in Garlan. Now he has begun building a 142-seat motel and restaurant near his auto repair shop. Outwardly, the establishment very much resembled a sort of neat German farmstead.

Refocusing your business, moving away from the subject of a car workshop. opening a motel Sanders Court & Cafe, which was also an independent fast food restaurant.

True, you can not compare a fast food restaurant McDonald's And Sanders Court & Cafe because they were not comparable. Still, Garland spent about 10-15 minutes preparing the order. So it was not a full-fledged fast food.

Already a colonel, Garland Sanders began to dress in classic clothes - a white suit and a black bow tie. This is how it is depicted on the company logos. KFC.

This image quickly entered the hearts of ordinary Americans who fell in love with Sanders' small establishment. During these years, Garland had as many orders and money as he had never had in his entire life. He felt success.

It was Golden time Sanders, and the troubles only invigorated. When the establishment burned down in 1939, Garland rebuilt it within a couple of months. And in the same year, the famous culinary critic Duncan Hines first mentioned it in his restaurant guide " Looking for good food«.

There, the colonel's chickens were listed as a special Kentucky landmark. The restaurant resumed its work a few months after the incident. In addition, the state authorities tried to help Garland, since his chicken was a Kentucky landmark.

At least for other Americans.

A state of nickels

Of course, there were also minor problems from time to time.

Years flew by in pleasant chores, and Sanders was already counting on a quiet old age, when his life once again presented an unexpected surprise.

At the very beginning of the 1950s, the new 75th federal highway from the northern states to Florida was completed, which passed away from Corbin.

The flow of customers that began 20 years ago dried up overnight. Sanders floundered for another year, but in 1952 he no longer had enough money to support the restaurant, and he had to be auctioned off to pay off creditors.

At 62, Sanders again lost his job, home, and money. The only thing he could count on was a state old-age pension of $105 a month.

To Garland's credit, he took the disaster as an opportunity to feel 22 years younger, returning to his old tumbleweed life.

He began to go around cafes and restaurants: first the neighbors, then he climbed further and further from the house. With him he carried a bag with his magic seasoning and his favorite pressure cooker.

Arriving at the restaurant, Sanders asked permission for 15 minutes to cook in front of the owner " kentucky chicken“and then offered to put this chicken on the menu, promising an uninterrupted supply of his spice mix.

In return, he asked for 5 cents from each sold " kentucky chicken". Sanders did not sign any contracts - the deal was sealed with a handshake.

Traveling by car from city to city is not at all an easy task, especially when not every restaurant agreed to cooperate.

Sanders found his first partner only in Salt Lake City.

He became the owner of the restaurant Pete Harman.

And Garland continued with stupid obstinacy to go round more and more new restaurants. During this time, his wife stayed at home to prepare the condiment and distribute it to partner restaurants.

« Claudia took orders, packed the seasoning in small bags and sent them to customers on the night train.“, says Sanders.

By the end of the 1950s, kentucky fried chicken» traded more than 200 eateries in the US and Canada.

« At first, business was slow, but over time, business began to revive.

I began to understand how Mr. Woolworth managed to organize such a large network of his penny shops. said Sanders, laughing. These nickels pile up and grow into a fortune!»

Millionaire at work

It is worth noting that the business created by Sanders had a big drawback - he relied on Garland himself, who was already over 70.

The Colonel personally sold franchises, did network marketing, and even tried to check every bag of spices. The heirs did not want to deal with chicken meat professionally.

In general, when Sanders was offered to sell the business in 1964 Kentucky Fried Chicken (« "), he agreed.

The buyers were a pool of investors led by John Brown- junior, future governor of Kentucky. For the entire company, they paid Garland $ 2 million in February 1964. At that time, the company had more than 600 franchises in the United States and Canada. Sanders also remained a public spokesman for the company, earning $250,000 a year.

So at the age of 70 Garland David Sanders became a millionaire

Although the colonel was now something like Santa Claus in a white suit, he did his job honestly.

He flew to all the countries where KFC establishments were now opening, and his luxurious limousine often visited children's parties. If he was asked why a millionaire should work in his old age, he usually grinned:

There is no reason to be a rich man in a graveyard. Lying there, you can't do business. Jack Daniel's famous motto

At 84, he published his autobiography entitled " Life as I have known it has been finger licking good» (« Life, as I learned, carefully licks hands«).

Having fulfilled this sacred duty of any successful American to society, he calmly, as he had dreamed all his life, lived for another six years, indulging in harmless pleasures, for example, playing golf expertly.

The only thing that poisoned his life were the current " kentucky fried chicken«. « In the company, everyone is too carried away by commerce and they cook the devil knows what from chickens“, he once said in an interview.

However, for the soul he had his own restaurant. Claudia Sanders' Dinner House(he sold the right to his name in the title along with the business), where he always personally followed the technology of cooking chickens.

Garlan Sanders died of leukemia on December 16, 1980, when he was 90 years old. The colonel was buried in his famous white suit with a black bow tie.

Now restaurants KFC opened in many cities around the world.

What know-how did Sanders offer to its franchisees?

1. A special seasoning of 11 herbs and spices for marinating chicken.

2. The technology of cooking chicken in a pressure cooker - the cooking time has been reduced from 30 to 15 minutes.

Five steps to a million from Garland David Sanders

  1. Farmer, streetcar conductor, U.S. Army private, blacksmith's assistant, locomotive stoker, court law intern, insurance salesman, furniture mover, ferry captain, tire salesman, and car mechanic.

  2. At 40, life is just beginning: Sanders decided to work for himself and opened his own auto repair shop ... which sold fried chicken best of all.

  3. At the age of 47, he followed the lead of his clients and opened his own restaurant.

  4. At age 62, Colonel Sanders went broke when a new state highway passed by the side of his establishment.

  5. Once again, the retired Sanders began to franchise the technology behind his fried chicken. And he became a millionaire at the age of 70.

Secret materials

The hype around the secret to Garlan Sanders' famous chicken seasoning of 11 herbs and spices continues unabated.

Once the host of the TV show "Fast Food" Gloria Pitzer on TV with Sanders told him that she made a very similar seasoning from three cups of flour, a tablespoon of paprika, two bags of powdered broth and two bags of seasoning Seven Seas.

The Colonel laughed.

« Yes, you are a real cook!«

She adds fuel to the fire KFC. The company officially claims that the full recipe is known only to a few people in the management, and the list itself never leaves a specially guarded safe.

Colonel's first pressure cooker

Still in the museum at the KFC Restaurant Supply Center in Louisville, Kentucky.

Resurrected

A few years after Harlan's death Sanders KFC launched commercials in which the Colonel closely resembles the original. Members of his family even said that when they saw them, they experienced superstitious horror.

old freemason

Garlan Sanders He has been a member of the Masonic lodge since 1917. There is a bust on his grave, which was sculpted by his daughter Margaret. It has images of the Masonic square and compasses.

P.S. That's all. Here is such a story. Nikolai Yakimenko was with you with a blog.

Until the next release.

Harland David Sanders, better known under the pseudonym Colonel Sanders (September 9, 1890 - December 16, 1980) - founder of fast food restaurant chain Kentucky Fried Chicken("Kentucky Fried Chicken", KFC).

Colonel Sanders first turned chicken roasting into a multi-million dollar business in 1952. His signature recipe is pieces of fried chicken, flavored with a mixture of aromatic herbs and spices. His portrait is traditionally depicted on all restaurants of his network and on branded packaging. Rank "Colonel" is an honorary title awarded annually by the governor of a state for outstanding service to the public life of the state.

So, Are you ready to hear his complicated life story? Go:

Harland Sanders was born on September 9, 1890 in the small town of Henryville in the US state of Indiana. Harland's dad worked as ancillary work for local farmers. He earned little, but the mother could afford to sit with the children. But when Sanders turned five years old father died suddenly. To feed the children, the mother had to go to work, and little Harland stayed at home for the whole day with his younger brother and sister.

Such a life revealed in him a real talent for cooking. In just a few months, Sanders learned to cook all the dishes popular in the family. There was no question of studying in such a situation. Harland had no time for regular school attendance, no money for college. At 10 he took a job as a laborer on a nearby farm with a monthly salary of $2. Two years later, his mother remarried, and Harland was sent by his stepfather to work on a farm away from home, because. I didn't really want to be involved in the upbringing of other people's children.

IN 14 years Sanders dropped out of school for good. In total, he studied there for six classes.

Having abandoned agriculture at the age of 15, he got a job as a tram conductor.

At 16 years he enlisted in the American army and went to serve as a private in Cuba. There, our hero was engaged in raking horse manure in the army, and later got a job blacksmith's assistant. Then as a washer of rail rolling stock on the local railway, and later as a fireman in the fire department. Everything went so well there that Harland even plucked up the courage to propose to his beloved Josephine. (first wife) which accepted this offer.

Josephine did not want children, but 19-year-old Sanders was assertive: according to the official version, 9 months after the wedding night, the couple had their first child, a girl, Margaret. Two years later, Harland Jr. was born, and seven years later, Mildred was born.

After the appearance of the first child, Sanders was fired. However, the wife loved Harland enough to heroically endure his constant rushing from one job to another.

At one time, Sanders even decided to do mental work - he enrolled in correspondence law courses and got a job practicing in court. Soon the career of a lawyer ended due to the fact that at the trial he got into a fight with his client. The Bar Association revoked his license.

After that, and until the age of 40, Harland tried more jobs as an insurance agent, a miner, a furniture mover, a farmer, a ferry captain, a tire salesman and a car mechanic.

Mine He met his 40th birthday in a deep depression: youth passed, and somehow by itself it turned out that he had neither his own home, nor even a permanent job. At that moment, he heard on the radio a speech by the then-famous comedian Will Rogers, who said in his humoresque that "life begins only at the age of forty." Harland later said that "That radio show changed my life". Henceforth, he decided to work only for himself, since he had small savings.

In 1930 in Corbin, Kentucky Sanders opened his own auto repair shop. The place he chose was not accidental: his enterprise was located just on the side of the 25th federal highway, which connected the Northern States with Florida. This provided him with a constant flow of customers. Harland and his family lived right there, in several living rooms at an auto repair shop.

The case slowly began to spin, and soon Sanders decided to offer some food to the road-weary visitors, especially he loved to cook. He cooked his own meals in his home kitchen, and the client room contained only one dining table and six chairs. The basis of the modest menu was fried chicken, which Harland was especially successful in. Over the next nine years, he came up with and improved his "secret recipe" for pressure frying chicken, which cooks the chicken faster than in a frying pan.

In 1935 Kentucky Governor Ruby Laffoon made him a member of the honorary "Order of Kentucky Colonels" with the wording "for his contribution to the development of roadside catering."

With the money saved up, Sanders began building a 142-seat motel and restaurant near his auto repair shop. The establishment looked very much like a neat German farmstead.

The opening took place in 1937 under the Sanders Court & Cafe sign (Sanders Motel and Cafe). Sanders appeared on it in front of visitors in a luxurious white suit with a black bow tie.

From visitors now there was no release. When in 1939 the establishment burned down, Harland rebuilt it in a couple of months.

But soon life cracked again- the construction of a new highway was completed, onto which the entire stream, which had previously passed by Harland's auto repair shop, rolled off.

It would seem that again a failure, the age is no longer young at all - 62 years old, Harland almost gave up.

And then came to the rescue... fried chicken! Yes, that's right, he strained himself, packed his suitcase and went to drive around the nearby restaurants with a single phrase: "I can cook fried chicken better than you."

He was refused again and again, an excellent cook in venerable years was suspiciously examined from head to toe and often not even allowed on the threshold. Let's mentally put ourselves in the shoes of a restaurant owner. You have a successful business, and then one fine sunny day, a rusty wreck approaches your establishment, some strange old man comes out of it and offers you to first buy a chicken recipe from him, and then deduct money to him every month. Naturally, you ask him:

– Are you a famous chef?
“No, I’m not a cook,” the strange grandfather will answer.
- Oh, I see, you - owner of a chain of successful restaurants, and you expand it?
- I don't have restaurants. There was one, but I went bankrupt, - the pensioner honestly admits.
“Well, now I understand,” you guess. - You - well-known publisher of cookbooks.
– No, I am a simple person and I have only one chicken recipe.

It took a long time before he was able to find the first customer. Some sources claim that he traveled to 1006 restaurants before signing the first contract. Under the terms of the agreement, Sanders received only 5 cents for each of his chickens at each restaurant. Not bad, considering that order volumes have been constantly growing. Needless to say, already in the early 60s, Harland Sanders' clients were several hundred US restaurants. Later, he met Pete Herman, a Salt Lake City restaurateur who saw potential in the Colonel's idea and opened a new restaurant, Kentucky Fried Chicken, the first KFC chain.

And then the desire of Harland Sanders came true - he realized himself 100%. He found his favorite job completely devoted to his talent. He made others believe in themselves!

When he was 70 years old, Kentucky Fried Chicken was at the height of his fame, and the old colonel decides to sell the company to private investors for $2 million and the position of company representative (face of the brand), for which he was paid about 250 thousand dollars a year.

In recent years, he devoted a lot to himself - he traveled, played golf, managed his own restaurant Claudia Sanders' Dinner House with his second wife Claudia.

In 1980, Harland Sanders has died at the age of 90.

Five steps to a million

1. Farmer, streetcar conductor, US Army private, blacksmith's assistant, locomotive fireman, court trainee, insurance agent, furniture mover, ferry captain, tire salesman, and car mechanic.

2. At 40, life is just beginning: Sanders decided to work for himself and opened his own auto repair shop, which sold fried chicken best of all.

3. At the age of 47, he followed the lead of his clients and opened his own restaurant.

4. At 62, Colonel Sanders went broke when a new state highway passed away from his establishment.

5. Once again, the retired Sanders began to franchise the technology for cooking his fried chicken. And he became a millionaire at the age of 70.