Here's What You Can Still Order From Kentucky Fried Chicken's Original 1952 Menu
Kentucky Fried Chicken has been slinging "finger-lickin' good" chicken since 1952, which begs the question, "How much has changed?" Luckily, Reddit has unearthed KFC's original 1952 menu so we can do a side-by-side comparison. Impressively, you can still find a lot of the items from the original KFC menu on today's list of offerings, albeit in slightly different forms.
The biggest differences when comparing the old school menu against today's are the prices. When adjusted for inflation, items on the 1952 menu are priced at least double what they cost today. Similar to the Regular Dinner Box for $1.35 (around $16 with inflation) on the 1952 menu, you can still get a 3-piece chicken combo, though today's version only comes with one side and includes a medium drink for around $14. The original Jumbo Dinner Box for $2.15 (about $25.60 today) is almost exactly like today's Meal For Two, which includes 5 pieces of chicken, your choice of two sides, and two rolls, totaling $15 before tax. The only difference is that the Meal For Two comes with two drinks whereas the Jumbo Dinner Box doesn't offer them.
Today's closest comparison to 1952's 9-piece Thrift Box is the 8-piece Chicken Only offering for $24.99. To quickly put it into perspective, the $2.95 Thrift Box, when adjusted for inflation, would be about $35 in today's dollars. That means you're better off thrifting at a 21st-century KFC. The 1952 15-piece Family Bucket for $4.90 (about $58.30 in today's money) has been replaced with a 12 or 16-piece Chicken Only option on today's menu for $33.99 and $42.99 respectively. Unfortunately, there are no current-day comparisons to 1952's 21-piece chicken Barrel for $5.95, probably because families these days aren't as large as they were in the 1950s.
Read more: 26 Best Toppings To Add To Your Chicken Sandwich
What You Won't See Anymore On Today's KFC Menu
As you can imagine, today's Kentucky Fried Chicken has a broader range of options including boneless offerings, sandwiches, the occasional chicken wraps, and a large array of dipping sauces. There are a couple of things that were on the old menu that you won't be able to find on today's menu. For example, four of the sides -- chicken livers and gizzards, macaroni salad, baked beans, and a bean salad -- are no longer options on today's menu. We're guessing that while chicken livers and gizzards probably fit right into 1950s palates, they'd most likely be hard to move in today's fast food scene.
Macaroni salad and baked beans sound like perfect sides for a feast of Southern recipes. While today's menu does have mac and cheese as a side, it's still not quite the same even if it's in the same family as macaroni salad. Other sides you'll find today that you wouldn't in 1952 include fries and sweet corn. Plus, no hate toward the Chocolate Chip Cake or the Cherry Pie Poppers offered at KFCs today, but we wish the apple turnover dessert was still on the menu!
Read the original article on Tasting Table.
