The clip-on black ribbon and his 1964 personal planner drew big bids in Kentucky, decades after the chicken king’s death.
More than four decades after Colonel Harland Sanders died, pieces of the man behind the white suit and goatee still pull crowds. On a Tuesday night in late July at the Claudia Sanders Dinner House in Shelbyville, Kentucky, his signature clip-on black bow tie sold for $8,000. His leather-bound 1964 personal planner brought $30,000.
The auction, run by The Menish Group, offered more than 100 personal and professional items across 74 lots. Organizers said total sales came in just shy of $300,000. More than 500 bidders joined in person and online.
A Keepsake That Once Sparked a Lawsuit
The planner topped the night. Inside sat a handwritten list of eleven ingredients with measurements. The Settle family, who bought the property from Sanders and his wife Claudia in 1974, found it years later in the basement of Blackwood Hall, the couple’s longtime home.
In the early 2000s the discovery triggered a lawsuit from KFC, which sought to keep the contents private. The company later dropped the case after deciding the list did not match the famous secret blend of 11 herbs and spices and was probably a stuffing recipe. Auctioneer Bill Menish called the book simply “a keepsake.”
The Bow Tie That Defined the Brand
The clip-on black ribbon bow tie, the same style Sanders wears in the KFC logo, sold early for $8,000 along with a pair of his suspenders. Auctioneer Jonathan Klunk noted that Sanders preferred clip-ons. The tie, white suit, glasses, and goatee formed the carefully crafted image that turned a regional fried-chicken cook into a global icon.
Menish described Sanders as a marketing genius who adopted the full colonel look only after he began building the chain. “He didn’t dress like that before,” Menish said.
Other strong results included Sanders’ 1955 honorary Kentucky Colonel certificate for $23,000, a personal Mondia Stellaris wristwatch for $20,000, and one of his Mirro-Matic pressure cookers for $11,500. Celebrity chef Alton Brown won a carving-knife set and a collection of original KFC printing blocks.
Why These Everyday Objects Still Matter
The items stayed together through an unbroken chain of ownership from the Sanders family to the Settles. That continuity made the sale feel less like scattered memorabilia and more like a window into the life of the original celebrity chef. Sanders sold the company in 1964 but stayed its public face until his death in 1980. His pressure-frying method and folksy persona helped invent modern fast-food culture.
Sealed bids for the Claudia Sanders Dinner House and Blackwood Hall itself closed shortly after the memorabilia sale. The restaurant has remained open throughout the process.
In an age of fleeting digital fame, a simple clip-on bow tie and a handwritten planner still command real money and genuine curiosity. The Colonel’s carefully built image endures, one auction paddle at a time.
