As Elvis Presley shot to fame, he decided to buy the Graceland mansion in Memphis, Tennessee, moving in with his extended family in 1957. Behind the house is Vernon Presley’s office, where The King’s father would handle his son’s finances, household bills and oversee two secretaries replying to fan mail. Now, if you’ve ever visited Graceland, you’ll have seen the passive-aggressive sign Vernon put on the door.
Vernon’s sign reads: “Please read and observe: no loafing in the office, strictly for employees only!
“If you have business in here, please take care of it and leave. Vernon Presley.”
Express.co.uk took part in a virtual live tour of the Graceland mansion earlier this week and archivist Angie Marchese revealed the true story behind the blunt notice.
The Elvis Presley expert said: “My favourite story about the office is the note that’s on the door that Vernon had put up there because Priscilla would come here and visit with Patsy [Presley].”
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Last year, Angie gave Elvis fans a mini-tour of Vernon’s office, which was shared on Graceland’s official Instagram account.
Inside she pointed out a surprising revelation found in a 1958 Memphis phonebook.
The archivist looked up the Presley surname inside and found Harold, Elvis’ cousin and lots of other Presleys, but there was no sign of The King.
Perhaps Elvis was retracted to stop fans constantly calling up the mansion, trying talk to the star?
Angie also shared what was kept inside Vernon’s office safe cabinet, discovering a pair of Elvis’ sunglasses and a stack of The King’s RCA records.
Also inside were some To and From labels addressed to Elvis at Graceland.
Vernon died in 1979 aged 63, two years after Elvis. The King’s father is buried next to his son in Graceland’s Meditation Garden.
Interestingly, Graceland only have one item of Vernon’s clothes in the archives, a pair of trousers, as girlfriend Sandy Miller handled his estate.
Published at Sun, 11 Apr 2021 11:45:14 +0000
Elvis’ dad Vernon Presley put a sign up outside his Graceland office to keep Priscilla out
