Colonel Sanders Article – Sept. 19, 1976

Colonel Sanders and his world renowned Kentucky Fried Chicken have been a recurring topic on this blog. 

I always found interesting that he was a latecomer when it came to chicken restaurants in Lorain, with several others (Chicken Delight, Minnie Pearl, etc.) making chicken tracks into town before him. The Lorain store on Oberlin Avenue didn't open until April 1971. 

We didn't have it very often in the early years. I remember Mom suggesting having it for dinner by saying, "How about Colonel Sanders tonight?" In later years, we brought it on picnics.

I've written before how I played 'Happy Birthday' on my trombone for the Colonel, when he visited the Ohio State Fair in 1976 and I was a member of the All-Ohio State Fair Band. He stood about ten or twelve away from me and the other trombones in our small group, and I remember thinking, "Wow, is he short!"

And I once visited his grave down in Louisville, Kentucky while visiting my sister, who lives in that fine city. (No, I didn't leave a grease-stained KFC bucket filled with flowers as a memorial.) We went to the Colonel Sanders Museum that same day as well.

Anyway, here's an interesting article about the Colonel, showing him at his crankiest. He was visiting some Kentucky Fried Chicken outlets and was less than pleased with how his famous recipe was being followed. The article (which is pretty hilarious) ran in the Journal back on Sept. 19, 1976.

The article mentions that he was handing out signed photos of himself. I wouldn't be surprised if it was something like this card (below). There's several of them on eBay right now.

I don't have Kentucky Fried Chicken very often these days. It's not the healthiest meal. But when I have a taste for it, I have to have it. Luckily that only happens about once a year.

Kentucky Fried Chicken Arrives in Lorain – April 1971

Fifty years ago this month, Kentucky Fried Chicken opened its first Lorain restaurant on Oberlin Avenue. It’s hard to believe, but before that, the nearest one was on State Route 113 in Elyria. The ad above appeared in the Lorain Journal on April 23, 1971.

I wrote about the chicken chain’s early days in Lorain County back here.

Back then, the Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise rights in our area were held by Kenny King’s, so that was the name on the building. Note that the Oberlin Avenue store was carry out only. 

A few days later on April 27th, the Journal covered the store’s opening with the photo below of employee Diane Schneider of Lorain, displaying a chicken dinner.

Sadly, the store on Oberlin Avenue and the other Lorain KFC outlet on Henderson Drive have been closed for years. Today, when you have a craving for that dee-licious original recipe chicken, you have to head out of town to the store on Leavitt Road in Amherst, or the Sheffield Village store on State Route 254.

Recently, the former Kenny King’s store on Oberlin Avenue has become the new home to two businesses. The building looks pretty nice.

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(You might remember that before Kenny King’s moved in, the building was briefly home to the largely forgotten Taco Kid.)

Kenny King's Mystery "Chick"

Since the last few days have been all about chicken here on the Brady Blog, here are a few more Kenny King's ads that I've found since my post about Kentucky Fried Chicken a few weeks ago.

Both Kenny King's ads are from the pages of the May 1963 Elyria Chronicle-Telegram. They're interesting because they contain graphic elements that seem a little at odds with the Kentucky Fried Chicken brand.

The ad above is from May 1, 1963. It features an offbeat cartoon character that resembles what the Peanuts character Charlie Brown might look like as a grown-up, with his huge, oval-shaped head.

But it's the other ad (below), from May 6, 1963 that is even more unusual.

The ad makes reference to an upcoming visit to the Cleveland area from none other than Colonel Harland Sanders himself, which is pretty cool.

But who is the comely young lady in the ad?

Is it Colonel Sanders' niece? A waitress at Kenny King's? Maybe someone will Google "Kenny King's" someday, recognize her, and post her identity.

By the way, although the Elyria location in the ad is no longer part of the Kentucky Fried Chicken chain, it’s still home to a restaurant: Lowell Street Cafe. It's located on Lowell Street at Rockfern Street. Here's the link to its Facebook page (and here's its website).

Early Days of Kentucky Fried Chicken in Lorain County

I love chicken pot pies, and a discussion about them at work recently resulted in my having to stop at Kentucky Fried Chicken to pick one up for dinner that night. (That’s the power of suggestion for you.)

As someone who really pays attention to advertising and packaging, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the box the pot pie came in had a fun, retro design with the full company name. It even had a vintage illustration of Colonel Sanders himself.

Here’s a better look at the box lid.

That got me to wondering : “When did Kentucky Fried Chicken first arrive in Lorain County?”

Well, back when Colonel Sanders launched his fried chicken empire in the 1950s, he first enlisted franchisees who would put Kentucky Fried Chicken on the menu in their own established restaurants. One of the earliest and biggest franchisees was Kenny King of Cleveland.

Thus in Northeast Ohio, many of us were first introduced to the Colonel’s chicken through Kenny King’s. The restaurant also had other things on their menu, such as the “Big King” steak burger.

Vintage city directories and phone books indicate that one of the earliest Kenny King's offering Kentucky Fried Chicken in Lorain County was at 903 Telegraph Road (State Route 113). It first showed up in the Elyria phone book in October of 1961.

Here’s the ad from the 1962 Elyria directory.

Here’s a color photo of a bucket similar to the one shown in the ad.

And here's a Kenny King's newspaper ad from the Lorain Journal of August 2, 1963.

Here’s a later ad, from the 1967 Elyria directory. Note that the Telegraph Road address is still the only restaurant in the area.

Also of interest is the use of the same Colonel Sanders illustration that was found on my pot pie box.

Even as late as 1968, the only local Kenny King’s was in Elyria. Here’s a coupon that ran in the Lorain Journal on March 20, 1968.

It looks like Kenny King’s did not make it into Lorain until the early 70s, with a Kenny King’s Carryout listed at 4300 Oberlin Avenue in the 1971-72 Lorain Phone Book.

Here's a June 29, 1973 ad from the Lorain Journal. Note that a new illustration of the Colonel was being used.

A year later, Lorain had two outlets: 4300 Oberlin Avenue and 1725 Henderson Drive. Here’s a 1974-75 phone book ad listing both of them.

Although the Lorain restaurants were Kenny King’s in the early days, my parents didn’t refer to them as such when they wanted Kentucky Fried Chicken. It was always, “How about some Colonel Sander’s for dinner?”

Anyway, in recent years the corporation has embraced its original name, utilizing it in advertising and signage along with the shortened name KFC. I’m sure the Colonel would be proud.

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UPDATE (March 12, 2018)

I enjoyed a big ol' bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken last week and was pleasantly surprised to see that it had a nice retro design, just like the pot pie box. It's a nice counterbalance to the goofy TV commercials with the celebrity Colonels.