In the early 1950s, Colonel Sanders suffered a couple of blows to his success. As explained by the New Yorker, the highway junction that ran in front of his cafe was moved to another site, and then a new interstate highway was built that took traffic away from his location entirely. After a decade of success, it looked like Sanders was done for. In 1956, he auctioned off his business at a huge loss and was now, at age 65, living entirely on his savings and a Social Security check of $105 a month.

Fortunately, he had planted the seeds to save himself back in 1952 — the seeds of franchising. According to History, Sanders taught his chicken-frying methods and recipe to his friend Pete Harman in Salt Lake City. As it happens, Harman owned one of the largest restaurants in the city, and he started selling Sanders' chicken as his first-ever franchisee, advertising it under the banner of "Kentucky Fried Chicken" and selling it in the soon-to-be trademark bucket.

Now in his 60s, Sanders found himself in the franchise business. Following Harman's success, other businesses wanted to sell Sanders' chicken and made arrangements to give him 4 cents for every chicken cooked via his process. Sanders hopped in his 1946 Ford and drove around the country, sleeping in his car with pressure cookers and a bag of spices, looking far and wide for franchisees and finding them everywhere. By 1963, Sanders had over 600 restaurants in the United States and Canada selling his chicken.

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