 |
| Christmas Eve with Colonel Sanders RCA Records. 1967 Catalog #PRS 256 |
You know the image of the gentleman with the white beard, thin black bow tie, and white suit. You’ve heard of his 17 secret spices. You may even know a little about his story…the man who launched a hugely successful business at the age of 65. Did you know, though, that the Kentucky colonel had three Christmas albums?
Starting in 1967 and continuing thru 1969, Kentucky Fried Chicken offered a Christmas compilation album featuring popular artists of the time singing Christmas music. Each album featured the company’s marketing darling, Colonel Harland Sanders, on the album cover.
The first, Christmas Eve with Colonel Sanders, may be best remembered for the kitschy photograph of the then 77 year old colonel peacefully napping in his ornate chair in front of the Christmas tree and fireplace adorned with stockings and gifts. The music is a pleasing blend of Christmas favorites by a variety of artists of different genres.
 |
| Christmas Day with Colonel Sanders RCA Records. 1968 Catalog #PRS274 |
In addition to cover notes by Jack Mitchell, the 1967 offering by KFC includes a greeting on the back of the album cover from Colonel Harland Sanders. The Colonel writes:
“Dear Friends,
For the Christmas season, I can not think of a nicer way to convey my best wishes than to share this album of traditional music with you.
I know that the holiday season is a very special time for all of us. A time when our families are brought together in a spirit of deep devotion and good will.
I hope you find as I do that this selection of music is an especially fine embodiment of that spirit.
I think of children at Christmas as they look forward to the visit from Santa Claus.
I think of grown-ups as they reflect with pride and pleasure upon their families. With the memories of past holiday seasons and the vision of more to come.
I think the world at large, hoping that some of the compassion we feel during this season will flow out into the rest of the year, not only for the sake of our country, but for friends and enemies.
I think af all these things and cannot help but hope that this album and its songs may contribute to the true spirit of Christmas.
Enjoy and God bless you.
Colonel Harland Sanders”
Much like the first Christmas album, “Christmas Day with Colonel Sanders” features a compilation of songs and artists popular in 1967.
 |
| Christmas with Colonel Sanders RCA Records. 1969 PRS291 |
“A Message from Colonel Sanders
Merry Christmas!
No matter how many years go by or how old we get, that timeless greeting still contains a lot of magic in it. Another part of Christmas that never ceases to thrill us is the beautiful music of this wonderful season. New songs are written every year for this joyous occasion and, like the traditional songs, they make our hearts glow with the Christmas spirit. Most of them bring back fond memories of earlier Christmases.
My memories of Christmas as a youngster are happy ones. Times were hard on the small Kentucky farm where we lived. My widowed mother worked hard to support the five little ones in her brood. But difficult times were momentarily forgotten when Christmas rolled around. Our tree never had many presents under it, but there was an abundance of love in the air as we gathered around to sing our favorite Christmas carols. I’ll never forget those Christmas days at home!
Many years later, my chicken recipe laid the foundation for the Kentucky Fried Chicken Corporation. I made my mark in life after I was 65 years old, but I must admit I always feel like a child at Christmas!
Christmas always brings back a lot of memories to me, but the real meaning of Christmas has always remained the same: peace and good will to all men! I guess at one time or another we have all made the remark, “If only people could keep the spirit of Christmas the other 364 days of the year, what a wonderful world this would be.” Well, my friends, it is possible … but it has to start with you and me, don’t you see.
I hope this special Christmas album fills your hearts with the true spirit of Christmas. It might even be a good idea to take a listen to it in April or July or September! Perhaps it would help remind us of the true Christmas spirit we had back on that special day in December.
May you and your family have the best Christmas ever! God bless us all.
Colonel Harland Sanders”
Colonel Harland Sanders
<!–
From Young Cook to KFC’s Famous Colonel
Kentucky Fried Chicken, pioneered by Colonel Harland Sanders, has grown to become one of the largest quick service food service systems in the world – with more than a billion “finger lickin’ good” Kentucky Fried Chicken dinners served annually in more than 80 countries and territories. But success didn’t come easily.
In 1896 Harland’s father died, forcing his mother to enter the workforce to support the family. At the tender age of six, young Harland was responsible for taking care of his younger siblings and doing much of the family’s cooking. A year later he was already a master of several regional dishes. Over the course of the next 30 years, Sanders held jobs ranging from streetcar conductor to insurance salesman, but throughout it all his skill as a cook remained.
The Cook Becomes a Colonel
In 1930, the then 40-year-old Sanders was operating a service station in Corbin, Kentucky, and it was there that he began cooking for hungry travelers who stopped in for gas. He didn’t have a restaurant yet, so patrons ate from his own dining table in the station’s humble living quarters. It was then that he invented what’s called “home meal replacement” – selling complete meals to busy, time-strapped families. He called it, “Sunday Dinner, Seven Days a Week.”
As Sanders’ fame grew, Governor Ruby Laffoon made him a Kentucky Colonel in 1935 in recognition of his contributions to the state’s cuisine. Within four years, his establishment was listed in Duncan Hines’ “Adventures in Good Eating.”
As more people started coming strictly for the food, he moved across the street to increase his capacity. Over the next decade, he perfected his secret blend of 11 herbs and spices and the basic cooking technique that is still used today.
The Colonel’s Cooking Spreads Worldwide
In 1955, confident of the quality of his fried chicken, the Colonel devoted himself to developing his chicken franchising business. Less than 10 years later, Sanders had more than 600 KFC franchises in the U.S. and Canada, and in 1964 he sold his interest in the U.S. company for $2 million to a group of investors including John Y. Brown Jr. (who later became governor of Kentucky).
Under the new owners, Kentucky Fried Chicken Corporation grew rapidly. It went public in 1966, was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1969 and eventually was acquired by PepsiCo, Inc. in 1986. In 1997, PepsiCo, Inc. spun-off of its quick service restaurants- including KFC-into an independent restaurant company, Tricon Global Restaurants, Inc. Today, the restaurant company (now YUM! Brands, Inc.), is the world’s largest in terms of system units with nearly 37,000 in more than 110 countries and territories.
Until he was fatally stricken with leukemia in 1980 at the age of 90, the Colonel traveled 250,000 miles a year visiting KFC restaurants around the world.
–>
According to his 1974 autobiography, before Harland Sanders became a world-famous Colonel, he was a sixth-grade dropout, a farmhand, an army mule-tender, a locomotive fireman, a railroad worker, an aspiring lawyer, an insurance salesman, a ferryboat entrepreneur, a tire salesman, an amateur obstetrician, an (unsuccessful) political candidate, a gas station operator, a motel operator and finally, a restaurateur.
At the age of 65, a new interstate highway snatched the traffic away from his Corbin, Ky., restaurant and Sanders was left with nothing but a Social Security check and a secret recipe for fried chicken.
As it turned out, that was all he needed.
Sanders was born in Henryville, Ind., in 1890. Six years later, his father died, forcing his mother to enter the workforce to support the family. At the tender age of six, young Harland was responsible for taking care of his younger siblings and doing much of the family’s cooking. 
A year later he was already a master of several regional dishes. Over the course of the next 30 years, Sanders held many of the jobs listed above, but throughout it all his skill as a cook remained.
In 1930, the then 40-year-old Sanders was operating a service station in Corbin, Kentucky, and it was there that he began cooking for hungry travelers who stopped in for gas. He didn’t have a restaurant yet, so patrons ate from his own dining table in the station’s humble living quarters. It was then that he invented what’s called “home meal replacement” — selling complete meals to busy, time-strapped families. He called it, “Sunday Dinner, Seven Days a Week.”
As Sanders’ fame grew, Governor Ruby Laffoon made him a Kentucky Colonel in 1935 in recognition of his contributions to the state’s cuisine. Within four years, his establishment was listed in Duncan Hines’ “Adventures in Good Eating.”
As more people started coming strictly for the food, he moved across the street to increase his capacity. Over the next decade, he perfected his secret blend of 11 herbs and spices and the basic cooking technique that is still used today.
In 1955, confident of the quality of his fried chicken, the Colonel devoted himself to developing his chicken franchising business. Less than 10 years later, Sanders had more than 600 KFC franchises in the U.S. and Canada, and in 1964 he sold his interest in the U.S. company for $2 million to a group of investors including John Y. Brown Jr. (who later became governor of Kentucky).
Until he was fatally stricken with leukemia in 1980 at the age of 90, the Colonel traveled 250,000 miles a year visiting KFC restaurants around the world. His likeness continues to appear on millions of buckets and on thousands of restaurants in more than 100 countries around the world.
Not bad for a man who started from scratch at retirement age.
(Biography information from http://www.colonelsanders.com/.)
christmaslpstocd 
