July 18, 2014

"In his two-story, often repainted, home, which one could tour for $5, were Elvis posters, Elvis candy wrappers and Elvis postage stamps..."

"... photographs of famous people with Elvis and photographs of famous people who did not know Elvis but who had been in the same city at some point, a homemade electric chair meant to evoke 'Jailhouse Rock' and scraps of carpet that came (he told visitors) from Graceland, and which you could buy for $20 a square inch. There were giant stacks of TV Guides, every issue that referred to Elvis, and a bank of constantly playing TVs, where [Paul] McLeod would carefully mark down every mention of Elvis and store each note in a growing library of binders. 'For example: 1991, Arsenio Hall Show, a mention of Elvis'...."

From "Two Lives Collide, and End, at an Elvis Shrine."

5 comments:

The Crack Emcee said...

"1991, Arsenio Hall Show, a mention of Elvis"…."

Insanity.

Ann Althouse said...

Binders full of Elvis.

MadisonMan said...

The guy was definitely on the spectrum, but I wouldn't call him insane.

Mary Beth said...

Who's Mary? He had TLC Mary TCB over the front porch. Wikipedia says, "Presley and his friends and employees also adopted the acronym TCB which meant "Taking Care of Business". Presley had the tail of his private jet painted with the initials "TCB" and a lightning bolt and gave away TCB & TLC on gold chain necklaces as gifts."

I thought the barbed wire might be to protect his Elvis collection but there's nothing in the way of the sidewalk up to the door and he let people tour at any time of the day or night. Maybe the wire and fence was to protect his Christmas trees and wreaths. (Google Street view)

Unknown said...

Went twice one summer 15 years ago when I was working nearby. Incredible embodiment of human obsession and a hell of tour guide.