Pop Goes The World
For the first time since 1969, the Rockbridge area is without a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant. The Lexington franchise on Walker Street closed unexpectedly last week. Reportedly, the employees did not know they were reporting to their last day at work when the restaurant was shut down. But it’s hard to think that it was a spur of the moment decision, given the fact that in a week’s time all traces of the building ever having been a KFC have been erased by an application of white paint.
Kentucky Fried Chicken’s first franchise was where Sheetz is now. It was a small structure painted white with a cupola topping the roof. There was no seating inside; it was strictly carry-out, though I do remember there was a little table where people could sit and wait for their orders. It was a very brave decision for the company to open one of its restaurants in an area where Kenney’s chicken was king.
KFC had a very limited menu then. There was, of course, the chicken and the sides consisting of mashed potatoes and gravy and coleslaw. I wasn’t a fan of the mashed potatoes, which tasted to me like something siphoned from a TV dinner, but I loved the sweet coleslaw. I think at one point potato wedges were introduced and I thought because they looked like overripe bananas that they would taste disgusting so I didn’t touch them.
There was one menu item universally loved and still very much missed – the Little Bucket Parfaits. In French parfait means perfect and these petite desserts were just about that. They came in three flavors – chocolate creme, lemon creme and strawberry shortcake. Each little bucket was a single size serving of heaven. I was particularly fond of the strawberry shortcake.
There was someone else who wasn’t a fan of everything on the KFC menu – Col. Harland Sanders.
During the Great Depression, Sanders sold fried chicken from a roadside restaurant in North Corbin, Ky. The first KFC franchise opened in 1952.
He was never actually in the military. He was given the title of colonel by the governor of Kentucky in 1935 for his work to boost the profile of the state. He bleached his beard and mustache to match his white hair. He wore white linen suits in the summertime and white woolen suits in the winter.
After selling the company in 1964 to a group of investors, Sanders lamented the diminishing quality of the food for the sake of saving a buck or two. He often referred to the food as slop and complained that the gravy tasted like wallpaper paste. Despite the fact that Sanders parted ways with the company, his image was still used in marketing and incorporated into the design of all the franchises. He was active in promoting the company until his death in 1980. He was 90 years old.
Ten years ago, KFC resurrected the Colonel in its advertising with “Saturday Night Live” alumnus Darrel Hammond costumed as Sanders promoting the $5 Fill Ups. It was a ghoulish advertising campaign and it didn’t last long. The little take-out only KFC restaurant in Lexington closed and by the 1990s it was a cellphone store. A new KFC was opened across the street where the White Top Restaurant used to be. The KFC menu was updated over the years, with the infamous Double Down being an example of grotesque excess. Its two slices of cheese and strips of bacon sandwiched between two fried chicken fillets. It only shows up on the menu for a limited time so that people can give their arteries a rest between its appearances.
I can’t even remember the last time I got something from KFC. I saw a KFC commercial tonight and it made me a little sad that ours is gone.
But if KFC reintroduces the Little Bucket Parfaits, I see a road trip to the closest KFC in my immediate future.
