Elvis Presley was born on Jan. 8, 1935, in Tupelo, Miss., where he grew up and were he is celebrated year-round with concerts, screenings of his Hollywood movies and more
I loved my recent visit to the small Mississippi Delta hometown of The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll – and you will, too.
Tupelo is far more low-key and far less glitzy or crowded than Graceland, in Memphis, which he built after becoming a successful recording star. Graceland is crowded year-round, especially during Elvis Week each August, when it’s crazy crowded and tickets to events are ridiculously expensive.
His rise to fame is depicted in the award-winning biopix called – simply – Elvis – released in 2021.
Unfortunately, the film completely ignores the historic “Million Dollar Quartet” association between Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins, who wrote and recorded “Blue Suede Shoes”, which became one of Elvis’ earliest hits and the influence and impact they had with one another.
But I digress.
What to Do in Tupelo, Miss.
My stops included the hardware store downtown where he bought his first guitar, his favorite diner, which still serves his favorite burger, and the museums which showcase his early career, including the clothing he performed in before the sequined jumpsuits, and his first car.
The Elvis Presley Birthplace is a far cry from the opulence and excess of his later life.
His parents were poor sharecroppers, and the small two-room wooden shack was built by his father, uncle, and grandfather.
The house is a mix of original family furnishings and period-accurate items, including old 33 rpm records by musicians who influenced him, including Tennessee Ernie Ford.
The family moved 100 miles away to Memphis when Elvis was 13, and the ’39 Plymouth they drove is at the birthplace complex, too.
It also includes a small, modern memorial chapel that’s a popular spot for weddings, and a larger Elvis Presley Museum.
There are no sequined and beaded Las Vegas jumpsuits here, just a young man’s flowered shirts, corduroy and denim jackets with impossibly wide ’60s lapels and shoulder pads, and early awards for gold and platinum record and cassette tape sales. Remember cassette tapes?
The center of town is dominated by a larger-than-life size Elvis statue, based on a popular photo of him, microphone in one hand and reaching out to fans with the other. It also commemorates his “coming home” concert in 1957 at what was then the town fairgrounds.
Where Elvis Bought His First Guitar
Elvis bought his first guitar, in 1946, for $7.90, at Tupelo Hardware. An “X” on the old wooden floor marks the spot where he stood to pick it out with his mother.
He originally had wanted a .22 caliber rifle, and his mother had wanted to buy him a bicycle.
Lucky for us all, Elvis chose a guitar instead. Ten years later, he made his first gold record.
Elvis fans, from music’s Prince to royalty’s Prince Albert of Monaco, have made the pilgrimage to Tupelo Hardware to soak up the vibes.
The store has been family-owned since 1926, and the staff, several of whom have worked there for decades, are happy to chat about their legendary customer.
There’s a bucket of guitar picks at the store entrance, imprinted with Tupelo Hardware, that make a great, inexpensive souvenir. Yes, I bought one.
Walk a few blocks from the hardware store to Johnny’s Drive-In, where there’s a small marker on the wooden booth where Elvis liked to sit. Not surprisingly, the walls of this vintage restaurant are decorated with vintage posters and newspaper clippings, mostly about Elvis.
His favorite burger is still on the menu — a doughburger: ground meat stretched with flour that helped stretch lean post-war budgets.
Vintage Cars at the Tupelo Auto Museum
Unfortunately, the excellent Tupelo Auto Museum closed in 2019, and its 174 vehicles auctioned to collectors and other vintage car museums around the world.
Those vehicles include a Lincoln he once owned, not the Cadillacs he became identified with later in life.
I was lucky to have seen one of only 48 Tucker models ever produced, an equally rare Hispano Suiza, Studebakers from both the 1910s and the 1950s, and a replica of the 1886 three-wheel contraption made by Gottlieb Daimler that is generally regarded as the world’s first motor car.
The Gumtree Museum of Art often has Elvis-themed artworks, and around his birthday there are usually Elvis movies at the Link Centre theater.
The center of town is dominated by a larger-than-life size Elvis statue, based on a popular photo of him, microphone in one hand and reaching out to fans with the other.
It also commemorates his 1956 Homecoming Concert at the Tupelo Fairgrounds.
The Beauty of the National Scenic Trail
Tupelo is in the middle of the 444-mile Natchez Trace Parkway, the National Scenic Trail that links Natchez to Nashville that began as a Native American trail.
It’s a great, scenic road trip by car or motorcycle – as I did, with a group of friends. It’s also a designated bicycle route.
Along the way there are nature trails, swamp bogs, remains of pioneer homesteads and graveyards, and Native American mounds to explore.
The trail’s headquarters are in Tupelo, and the Parkway Visitor Center is just about the only thing in town that is not Elvis-related.
Or, take one of the itineraries suggested by the Tupelo CVB, including a visit to Graceland, 100 miles away.
Elvis is Drafted
Via The Retrospect Daily – On December 20, 1957, Elvis Presley received his draft notice from the U.S. Army while spending the Christmas holidays at Graceland, his recently purchased mansion in Tennessee. By that time, Elvis had already become a household name with a variety of hit songs, including “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Hound Dog,” and “Don’t Be Cruel.” He’d also starred in the film Love Me Tender and was famous for his suggestive dance style while on stage.
When his fans learned of Elvis’ two-year draft, thousands of them wrote in asking for him to be spared, but Elvis only deferred his service once in order to finish working on his movie, King Creole. The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll was sworn in as an army private in Memphis, Tennessee on March 24, 1958. He left basic training once on emergency leave to visit his dying mother before sailing to Europe on the USS General Randall. He then joined Company D, 32nd Tank Battalion, 3rd Armor Division in Friedberg, Germany, where he served for 18 months and attained the rank of sergeant.
For his remaining service, he lived in an off-base residence with his father, grandmother, and several friends. At night, he was known to host parties and jam sessions. He met his future wife, Priscilla Beaulieu, at one of these events; she was 14 at the time. During his military service, Elvis’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker, continued to release previously recorded singles to keep Elvis’s music fresh in the public’s mind and The King was able to pick his career back up after his service was complete.
This article by ecoXporer Evelyn Kanter is updated and re-published annually on ecoXplorer to commemorate the birthday of the King of Rock and Roll or the anniversary of his death.
photos of Tupelo Auto Museum and Elvis Presley Birthplace Museum are both (C) Copyright Evelyn Kanter is All Rights Reserved and may not be copied or shared without permission. Contact evelyn@ecoxplorer.com for licensing information.
Other photos courtesy Tupelo CVB and the Official Elvis Website.
ecoXplorer Evelyn Kanter is a journalist with 20+ years of experience as a newspaper and magazine writer, radio & TV news producer & reporter, and guidebook and smartphone app author – all focusing on travel, automotive, the environment and your rights as a consumer.
ecoxplorer Evelyn Kanter currently serves as President of the International Motor Press Assn. (IMPA.org)
Contact me at evelyn@ecoxplorer.com.
(C) Copyright Evelyn Kanter
As a huge Elvis fan, I loved your post and now need to visit Tupelo the next time I go to Memphis. I didn’t realize there were so many Elvis-related sights there, other than the home where he was born. I stopped to see it briefly many years ago. It’s a shame the car museum was closed and all the card auctioned off!