In the world of takeaway packaging, the simplest designs are often the most famous, most useful and most enduring, and perhaps nowhere is this more evident than with the fried chicken bucket.
Alongside the burger box, the oyster pail and the pizza delivery box, the chicken bucket has become not only an incredibly useful way to serve a particular type of food, catering to the particularly greasy requirements of fried chicken but has become an iconic piece of design in its own right.
Whilst it is most commonly associated with one particular face framed in red and white stripes, the actual origin of the chicken bucket was a far stranger affair, involving a travelling salesman, the inventor of a now-iconic slogan and a fierce rival in the takeaway space.
Bucket O’ Chicken
Cardboard buckets are obviously not an invention of Kentucky Fried Chicken, and given that it is one of the simplest shapes you can make with two pieces of cardboard, they had existed for decades before Colonel Harland Sanders.
However, aside from popcorn, they were not necessarily used for food at this point, and as KFC went from a few self-owned restaurants in Kentucky to a franchise, many of the staples of the brand were still being developed.
The last of these was the chicken bucket, which emerged largely as a result of a favour and an attempt to save face.
As well as being the first-ever KFC franchisee, Pete Harmon of South Salt Lake, Utah was also a pivotal figure in the early success of the chain. He hired the man who would come up with the KFC name, and Mr Harman himself would come up with the slogan “finger-lickin’ good”.
Having a reputation for quick thinking and working with what he had, Colonel Sanders was particularly dependent on him, to the point that a later biography described him as the “virtual co-founder”. It was, therefore, not surprising when he came to Mr Harman with a big problem.
By this point, KFC had around eight franchisees, and one of them based in Denver had managed to buy 500 cardboard buckets from a travelling salesman.
With no idea what to do with them, the unnamed franchisee called the Colonel and asked if he could help him, and Colonel Sanders immediately contacted Mr Harmen to see if he had a use for bucket packaging.
Thinking quickly and willing to do Colonel Sanders a favour, Mr Harmen decided to use the bucket to create a family dinner for five, consisting of 14 pieces of chicken, a pint of gravy and five biscuits, even offering a side order of vegetables.
The market was for busy housewives who wanted a full family meal but did not have the time to make one, and it became exceedingly popular very quickly, all but inventing the bucket meal.
However, what turned it from a happy accident to an iconic representation of not only KFC but takeaway chicken as a whole was future Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas, who was a huge advocate of the bucket meal, the takeaway concept in general and even used the bucket as a rotating sign outside his restaurant.
