Colonel Sanders' Personal Working Planner Leads KFC Founder's Auction

A comprehensive collection of personal Colonel Harland Sanders memorabilia including his personal recipe cards comes to auction on July 28 at Claudia Sanders Restaurant in Shelbyville, Kentucky.

Many of the items going under the hammer on the property where he lived and worked originate from Blackwood Hall, the longtime home of Colonel and Claudia Sanders, where the couple lived for approximately 25 years.

Among the lots is Sanders' personal working planner containing a handwritten page with a list of 11 ingredients and associated measurements that became the subject of widespread media coverage and legal review. Preserved in its original binding, it features extensive handwritten entries made by Sanders himself recording observations, expenses, gratuities left, travel details, meals, business notes, and other aspects of his day-to-day activities.

Also coming to sale is Sanders' personal recipe card collection. The typed and handwritten recipe cards feature dishes such as Colonel Sanders Chicken Brunswick Stew, Corn Pudding, Hush Puppies, Remoulade Sauce, Cold Bread Pudding, Old Fashioned Bread Pudding Dip, Transparent Squash, Pumpkin Pie, Chinese Mustard, Corn Beef Dry Cure, Carrot Soufflé, Beaumont Corn Cakes, Beet Orange Sauce, Brussels Sprouts, and Baked Macaroni. Also included is a handwritten recipe card for Blackberry Cordial. 

Additional highlights from the collection include:

• the original December 19, 1980 funeral service program for Colonel Sanders
• Sanders' personal pocket-sized Zondervan New Testament and Psalms, King James Version, bound in blue pinseal Morocco leather with gilt-stamped lettering reading "COL. HARLAND SANDERS" on the front cover, with its original fitted presentation box bearing Zondervan labelling
• the original printed United States Patent Office publication for Patent No. 3,245,800, titled Process of Producing Fried Chicken Under Pressure, issued to Harland Sanders and assigned to Kentucky Fried Chicken Corporation and containing the complete patent text, technical specifications, and engineering illustrations detailing the pressure-frying process that became the foundation of Kentucky Fried Chicken's signature product
• two framed White House letters addressed to Colonel Harland Sanders with the printed signature of President Richard Nixon on official White House stationery, the first dated September 18, 1972, conveying birthday greetings from the President and Mrs. Nixon and the second, dated December 5, 1972, thanking Sanders for his support during the 1972 presidential campaign
• a collection of original Kentucky Fried Chicken printing blocks used in the production of promotional and advertising materials