I'm interested to know the origins of the modern concept of a franchise, how it became a business model, and if there is a historical context to understand franchising that dates back to before the modern conception of franchising (McDonalds, hotels, etc).
My first AskHistorian question, big thanks to the experts and academics that made this sub possible!
http://www.kfc.com/images/pdf/ColonelSanders-Stories.pdf
It was none other than Colonel Harland Sanders who started the idea. In 1955 he was able to convince a friend of his in Utah to start selling fried chicken and fixings using his recipe and cooking the chickens in a pressure cooker. The link above is his autobiography and from the KFC website but I see no reason to disbelieve any of it. It's actually a really good read. Chapter nine is the part you will be most interested in. The original deal was Col. Sanders would receive a nickel for every chicken sold.
That went so well that Col. Sanders spent the next several years driving all over the USA and Canada making a similar deal with small time diner owners all over the country.
On another interesting note. It's through KFC that Dave Thomas, of Wendy's fame, got his start
A&E's show Biography did episodes about both Col. Sanders and Dave thomas. Both fascinating american businessmen. I can't look at You Tube where I am at, but you may be able to find those.
The idea of the corporate franchise as we know it today can be traced back to Ray Kroc, the man who bought out the McDonald's brothers, and his expansion of the brand. The book Fast Food Nation covers the topic fairly well. Prior to the corporate franchise the closest was the rise of the department store and the catalog store. The industrial production of standardized goods allowed stores to stock the same product repeatably and rail and river/canal shipping could distribute the product to multiple locations.
[I've writtend a few papers on Kroc and Sears. Sears in particular is well studied and documented due to its product variety and widespread influence on the American mid-west... they sold and shipped houses by catalog, for example]
Isaac Singer used franchise dealers in the 1850's. He wanted to expand his sewing machine business but lacked the money to expand both manufacturing and distribution. He sold franchises to retailers who would have exclusive rights for that area and in exchange he got the money needed to expand his factories.