Rewind: Finger Lickin' Good - how Hitchin's Kentucky Fried Chicken became cock of the walk on Bancroft
[H1]Hitchin Nub News Rewind:[H1]
Welcome to Nub News' regular Rewind series where we showcase a nostalgia feature every week in our Friday newsletter and then on our website over the weekend.
For this week's Rewind, we're asking: Who recalls the Kentucky Fried Chicken shop in Hitchin?
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[H2]Kentucky Fried Chicken on Hitchin's Bancroft[H2]
It might be hard to fathom nowadays, but there was a time in the not so distant past, when fast food was a strange and exotic offering.
While our Atlantic cousins had been savouring 'burger joints' in their towns before the Second World War, across the pond, the UK would have to wait until 1954 to get its first taste of fast food, when Wimpy made the Atlantic crossing, eventually ending up in Hitchin among many other places.
Yet, Kentucky Fried Chicken, which was the brainchild of Colonel Sanders, first arrived in the UK in 1965, beating the arrival of such fast food luminaries as McDonalds and Burger King by a full nine years.
'Kentucky', as many called it back then, arrived in Hitchin in the 1980s, on Bancroft to be precise, next to the now defunct Sketchers.
As you can see from our picture, taken from the mesmerising video 'Hitchin old and new 2' 'Kentucky' was the poultry messiah that allowed many in our area their first, exciting taste of fried chicken in sleepy North Herts.
As you can see by the image, the bus stop on Bancroft remains to this day, as does Superdrug further along, but the site of the bearded poultry icon's store is now Costa Coffee.
While many 'Kentucky' outlets had a rotating KFC chicken bucket to help advertise their food, Hitchin's had to make do with a mere sign.
However, the food on offer was a match for anywhere.
[H2]Finger licking' good[H2]
Many of us of a certain vintage, will recall the unmistakeable 'Kentucky' experience, which, these days will seem as quaint as it was archaic, to those who only know fast food in the hectic 21st century.
A trip to 'Kentucky' was always met with metal cutlery such as knifes and forks, along with glass bottled sauces including ketchup, rather than the plastic sachets hungry punters will be handed today.
If you had a fizzy drink such as a coke you were, invariably, given a glass bottle, where you had to remove the metal cap with a bottle opener.
Plenty of the popular chicken chain's restaurants also offered soda fountains, which alas, were withdrawn at about the same time as the steel cutlery and porcelain plates.
Hitchin's 'Kentucky' also offered a takeaway option that meant flip top polystyrene boxes - handy to transport the jacket potatoes the brand offered back then, but, unfortunately, far less healthy for the environment.
No Zingers or Popcorn Chicken in the 1980s
A look at the menu brings back memories for many.
While there was a distinct absence of Zinger Burgers and Zinger Tower Meals for example, nor a selection of Popcorn Chicken, you could find a bucket - a Finger Lickin' bucket of course - of 15 chicken pieces, gravy and five rolls, on sale for £1.95 – or 21 pieces for the princely sum of £2.95 no less. While a portion of small chips set you back 20p.
Some things reman the same however, did you know that only two people at one time are allowed to know the exact herb and spice blend for KFC's original chicken - with KFC refusing to release their names or titles.
[H2]Drive-Thru[H2]
And while the term 'drive-thru' was unheard of only a few generations ago, certainly in terms of anything other than was viewed on iconic American shows such as Happy Days, ironically, Kentucky Fried Chicken - or KFC as it has been rebranded now is currently on the lookout for new 'drive-thru' sites which could include Hitchin as Nub News reported here recently...
We'd love to hear your memories of Kentucky Fried Chicken in Hitchin - why not share them online and join the conversation on our Facebook page here
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[H2]HITCHIN NUB NEWS REWIND SERIES[H2]
Rewind: Who recalls when Hitchin town centre's Tandy ruled the electronic universe
Rewind: Knickerbocker Glory - When Wimpy ruled the roost in Hitchin
Rewind: The terrible night the Nazi war machine bombed Hitchin
Rewind: The night Bob Marley and The Wailers played in Hitchin
Rewind: Frank Young VC: 'We will remember them' - the story of Hitchin's Victoria Cross
Rewind: On International Women's Day read about courageous Hitchin Suffragette Elizabeth Impey
Rewind: The day the Graf Zeppelin flew over Hitchin Town's Top Field
Rewind The Hitchin Riots: A very Middle Class affair
Rewind: The story of a cannonball from the English Civil War found in Hitchin
Rewind: The Hitchin - Stevenage experiment that led to a Nobel Prize
Rewind: On this day in 1813 Hitchin icon Henry Bessemer was born - find out more
New hitchin Jobs Section Launched!!
Vacancies updated hourly!!
Click here: hitchin jobs
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