Heritage Auctions will offer a trademark white suit of KFC's Colonel Harland Sanders as part of its June 22-23 Americana, Political Signature Auction in Dallas.
 For more than 20 years, as his popularity grew, Colonel Sanders was never seen in public without his white suit - he began bleaching his moustache and beard to match his look |
The suit was given to one of Sanders' young neighbours, Mike Morris, to wear for Halloween one evening, after Sanders developed a close relationship with the family in the later years of his life.
It comprises the white jacket and trousers, complete with the Colonel's signature black string tie.
Valued at $10,000-15,000, it is accompanied by a photograph of Sanders inscribed to his neighbour.
A similar example sold for $80,000 in 2012, suggesting the estimate could be on the low side.
Also included in the lot is a vinyl album of black and white shots of the colonel at the 1969 ceremonies for Collins Food International, a souvenir booklet issued for his 80th birthday and various films and videotapes.
The story of how the items were obtained began in 1975, when Mike Morris looked out of his window in Louisville, Kentucky, to see an enormous white limousine parked outside the house.
Out stepped Colonel Sanders, who then quickly returned to his car and drove off.
The next day, Mike's father received a call from the colonel, who was looking for property in the area and had decided to buy the Morris' home. Despite the original answer being a firm "no", the Morris family relented when the wealthy colonel made an offer they couldn't refuse.
The Morris' then made a bargain with the colonel that stipulated that they would be allowed to build another house on the land that they had sold. He evidently paid very handsomely for the land, as the family built a house far larger than the one they had originally owned.
However, Colonel Sanders had sold his old home far quicker than expected and the family were under pressure to move.
Fortunately, the good-natured Colonel proposed that he and his wife would live on the bottom floor of the old house and the Morris' could have the top, and thus they ended sharing a house with one of America's most famous restaurant owners and cultural icons.
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