Manufacturer: Walker China
User: Kenny King's
Date of cup: April 1964
Notes: After working his way up from a cook to business partner for the American Diner Company, Kenny King started his own restaurant chain in Northeastern Ohio in the late 1940s. The successful chain began with Kenny King's Drive-Ins – like the one built in 1950 at 3200 West 117th in the West Park Neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio – and later branched into family-style and take-out restaurants.
Long before the advent of McDonald's Happy Meals with premium toys, Kenny King's had the "Clean Your Plate Club" where kids would lick their plates clean for a free toy from the "Treasure Chest." A franchise pioneer in the 1950s, Kenny King purchased the rights from Harland Sanders of Corbin, Kentucky to use his Kentucky Fried Chicken recipe and the Kenny King Corporation held those exclusive KFC rights in Northeastern Ohio through the late 1990s. Kenny King's business acumen inspired Dave Thomas, who later founded the successful Wendy's fast food restaurant chain in Columbus, Ohio in 1969.
Kenny King Jr. managed the Kenny King's restaurant chain after his father's death in 1972, with the last of the family-style restaurants closing in 2004.
Click here to view a 1983 Kenny King's television commercial.
White body with teal airbrushed rim, topmarked "Supreme Kenny King's" in red.
For related info:
Kenny King's 2 by Mayer China