There is a certain poetry in how legends are made-and how, over time, what we remember most isn’t always where the story truly began.
Colonel Sanders: The Country Ham Man
Take Colonel Harland Sanders, for instance. Today, you can’t see his white suit and black string tie without thinking of fried chicken. The Colonel is fried chicken, at least in the minds of millions. But if you could step back in time to that little gas station café in Corbin, Kentucky, you would find a different story on the menu.
There, before the world knew his “secret recipe,” Sanders built his reputation on hearty, homespun meals: Country Ham and hot biscuits, served up to hungry travelers passing through the Bluegrass State. Country Ham wasn’t just a side dish-it was a star. Sanders’ early fame rested as much on savory slices of salt-cured ham and red-eye gravy as it did on any golden-fried drumstick. The irony? The man who became the face of fried chicken was, at the start, a Country Ham man.
A Legendary Encounter at Rays Starlight Restaurant
That story rings especially familiar here at Rays Country Ham. Not long after Rays Starlight Restaurant opened its doors in Mount Airy in the early 1960s, it attracted attention from near and far, including from Colonel Sanders himself. One morning, the Colonel stopped in for breakfast, drawn by the reputation of Rays authentic, salt-cured, and naturally air-dried Blue Ridge Mountains Country Ham and his mother’s homemade biscuits.
Sanders was so taken with his meal that he couldn’t help but press his waitress for details, eager to uncover the secret behind Rays exceptional Country Ham. It’s said he was quite insistent, making it clear he wanted to know exactly where Ray cured his hams-hoping to acquire this prized source for himself. But the secret stayed safe in Mount Airy, and the story of the Colonel’s determined curiosity became a local legend.
The Taste of Tradition: Ray Goad’s Legacy
Ray Goad, too, was a pioneer who staked his claim on the taste of tradition: real, air-dried Country Ham, nestled in a homemade biscuit. Long before breakfast biscuits swept the nation, Rays Kingburgers-originally part of the 15¢ fast food innovation-grew to more than 50 restaurants across five Mid-Atlantic states. Rays was the first fast food chain to open for breakfast, featuring the already legendary Country Ham biscuit. As others like Hardee’s and McDonald’s followed his lead, Ray changed America’s breakfast habits.
Both men started in humble kitchens, serving the food they knew best. Both saw their names become shorthand for something bigger than themselves. And both, in their early days, built reputations on the honest, enduring flavor of Country Ham.
Where Legends and Breakfast Traditions Begin
So as you slice into a piece of Rays Country Ham on a Sunday morning, remember: sometimes the world’s most famous faces are built on the quiet strength of tradition. And sometimes, what we are known for isn’t where our story truly began.
Here’s to the legends who started with Country Ham-and to those who still know where to find the real thing.
