SHELBYVILLE, Ky. — Personal items from the collection of KFC founder Colonel Harland Sanders were sold on Tuesday in a public auction, and his former Kentucky home will be sold on Friday.
Some of the 74 artifacts that were sold during The Colonel Sanders Artifact Collection hosted by the Menish Group included Sanders’ signature bow tie and suspenders, his personal working planner, handwritten recipes, and letters and correspondence from U.S. presidents.
Sanders has remained the recognized face of the worldwide fast-food chain, originally known as Kentucky Fried Chicken, even after he died in 1980, according to The Associated Press.
The clip-on bow tie and suspenders sold for $8,000, according to the auction listing. A Kentucky Colonel Commission Certificate awarded to Sanders in 1955 fetched $23,000, and the patent called “Process of Producing Fried Chicken Under Pressure” sold for $10,000.
Sanders’ executive planner from 1964 was sold for the highest price. The $30,000 tag was for the planner that had a handwritten list of herbs and spices, according to the auction house.
The list was the subject of an early 2000s lawsuit filed by the KFC Corp. to keep the contents private, the AP reported. KFC later dropped the legal action, noting they were not Sanders’ “secret recipe” but likely a listing for a stuffing recipe.
“Regardless of interpretation, the page contributed substantially to the planner’s notoriety and further cemented its place within the broader story of Colonel Sanders and Kentucky Fried Chicken,” the auction listing noted.
Harland and Claudia Sanders moved to the property from Corbin, Kentucky, and opened the Claudia Sanders Dinner House in 1959, according to WDRB.
The restaurant, along with the on-site home where Sanders lived and operated what became KFC’s headquarters in 1959, will be offered through a sealed-bid process that runs through 11:59 p.m. ET on Friday, WDRB reported.