Posts Tagged ‘Collections & Memorabilia’

Elvis Presley’s Hair to Auctioned – Update

Monday, October 12th, 2009

Okay updating the update: October 13th, 2009 – So I’m reading the Jerry Hopkins biography and as fate would have it I encountered the bit today where he comments that Elvis did in fact dye his hair black prior to induction into the army. So it would appear that I was wrong about that.  Still, buying a dead man’s hair is pretty creepy. Authentic or not

 

Further to my previous post about the “hair auction” I am now convinced that this batch of hair is not Elvis’s.  See the picture below that I came across today.  If I am correct, Elvis never died his hair until after he came back from Germany so when he got it cut to go into the army, it should have been the same dirty blond that it was naturally.  This is definitely not dirty blonde hair but is quite dark. 

Elvis Presley Hair To Be Auctioned

 

I loved the quote on the site where I found this picture: “…fetch the $115,000 another thatch of hair got at auction a few years ago. Well, that and the fact that anybody who’d pay that much for a dead man’s hair likely has serious social issues.”  You got that right!

Full Story Here

And more here 

Elvis Presley’s hair to be auctioned

Saturday, October 10th, 2009


Source: femalefirst.co.uk

A clump of the rock ‘n’ roll legend’s locks, which were shorn when he joined the US army in 1958, will be auctioned in Chicago on Sunday October 18.

Auctioneers are hoping the hair will raise at least £12,000, although in 2002 a jar of the singer’s hair made $115,000 when it was sold off.

A photo of the singer’s famous hair being cut by a military barber when he joined the US forces is one of the iconic images of his career and life.

A source said: "Girls mourned when they saw Elvis’ slick quiff being shaved off – this hair is some of the most famous and important in rock history."

The hair is part of an auction of memorabilia relating to the star, who died in 1977, being sold by his close friend Gary Pepper.

Gary was president of one of Elvis’ first fan clubs, and was given a lot of memorabilia by the singer himself.

That’s odd. I’ve read well over a dozen books about Elvis’s personal life and not once was this Gary Pepper ever mentioned.  I may have to go back and do a quick reference check but I’m pretty sure I’ve never heard that name before. Just because somebody was a president of one of Elvis’s thousand or so fan clubs, doesn’t make him a close personal friend.  If that was the case, then I could claim that I too, was a close personal friend of Elvis because, damn it, nobody loves him more then I do, I can guarantee you that!

080326_p17_lifeNor have I ever heard that Elvis’s hair was collected for memorabilia purposes when he had it cut for the induction into the army. Having said that, I wouldn’t put it past that old shikester Parker in thinking of it at the time.  

What I’d really like to know is how would someone go about proving the authenticity of said clump of hair.  Has it been tested and DNA certified?  Compared to what exactly?  I heard somewhere that the medical examiners’ office in Memphis kept Elvis’s brain after his death and that it still resides in a jar in a locked vault somewhere however I don’t give much credence to that.  But it seems to me that would be the only way to prove this “clump of hair” is actually Elvis’s hair.  And how gross is it to imagine paying $115,000 for a clump of hair who’s owner isn’t actually known. Ewwww!

Really, I just think the whole thing is kind of creepy. What do you think?