Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Birthplace of Elvis


When we went back to Tupelo to look at veils to go with The Daughter's wedding dress we had some time to enjoy the tourist attractions. Tupelo is the birthplace of Elvis Presley, and they have a site that marks the spot. The house pictured above is the actual house where Elvis was born, but historic preservation doesn't seem to be their goal. The house was built without electricity, but they've added lights and air for the comfort of their staff and as a result have lost entirely what the house actually looked like on the inside when Elvis lived there. You do get a sense of the size of the place. It was a 2 room house, and it still has just the 2 rooms. It's furnished in period-appropriate style. There's a museum on the grounds that is filled with document facsimiles, period photos, and items similar to objects that would've been in use during the time period Elvis lived in Tupelo. There was a woman from Tupelo who had some contact with the Presleys over the years, and there are objects she had given the family when they lived at Graceland which are displayed here. When we toured Graceland we heard no mention of this woman, but the Tupelo museum has an entire room devoted to her.

The museum has an enlarged photo of church members standing in front of the church Elvis' family belonged to, but the Presley family isn't in the photo. The church building itself is on the grounds:


and they have a video presentation of parts of a re-enactment of what they think the worship services were like when the Presleys belonged there, with imitation-child-Elvis singing during one part of it. The Daughter and I didn't like this part, both because we found it too long -much too long- and because we thought it a bit disrespectful somehow. We'd have preferred being able to just go into the building to see it without the drama.

We liked the life-sized statue of Elvis at 13:


and we thought the Fountain of Life was lovely:


The staff person who took our tickets at the house told us she had never been to Graceland and would never go there because she said their ticket prices were too high and she was afraid of crime in Memphis. We can't help but see her as being a bit precious with this. We wanted to tell her that for people interested in Elvis, Tupelo was skippable but Graceland was a must-see. In fact, we think having been to Graceland should be a job requirement for any birthplace site employee.

We were told this story of the birthplace site: In the mid-50s, Elvis found out his parents' old house was for sale, and he approached the Tupelo city fathers about buying it and turning the space into a park for the poorer kids who lived in that part of town. He donated the proceeds of 2 local concerts to the cause. We couldn't help but notice it's not a park at all suitable for children to play in. There's no playground equipment and no open space for play and nothing free to do except view a car that is similar to the one Elvis and his family drove when they moved from Tupelo to Memphis when Elvis was a child. We wonder how he would've felt about this use of property he specifically intended to benefit kids from his old neighborhood. Maybe he knew and approved this. I don't know. I can't find any information on whether or not it was actually turned into a park, and if so, when it was changed into the tourist attraction it now is.

Elvis' first public appearance (if you don't count church -which we personally do not count as a "performance" or "public appearance") was at the local fair, and they have a great statue in that park downtown (where there is playground equipment and open space) commemorating him:



All-in-all the Elvis sites were worth a day trip down from Memphis, but Graceland is the trip I would recommend.




8 comments:

  1. The house was interesting, sounds like the rest was someone trying their best to make the spot a tourist attraction. I do enjoy your reports on Elvis spots though.

    Darla

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They are building up their offerings. I'd be more sympathetic towards their efforts if it didn't look like they were overtly steering folks away from Graceland. That sounds like a bad business decision to me. Besides being rude ;)

      Delete
  2. It all sounds a bit forced. I imagine it would be so much nicer to have a proper park/playground dedicated to Elvis. His original idea suggests that he was a generous person, keen to give back to his community. Likely, someone is trying to make a buck. It is a cute little house, though. Looks a bit flimsy to live in permanently, like it could float away at any moment, but perhaps it is sturdier than it looks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Elvis was a generous, open-hearted man, according to those who knew him.

      The house is sturdy, made from actual wood :) and wouldn't have been an uncommon type for its day. I'm a bit sad that they covered over the inside walls and ceiling to add electricity and air conditioning, but I'd just rather see it restored to as close to original condition as possible.

      Delete
  3. I understand your problem with the changes to add electricity or how all the touristy-ness of the place could be a bit much. We recently visited this palace from the Mogul times. It had a newly "restored" court hall, now furnished with Belgian crystal chandeliers, very different in appearance from the original ones, and all the signs advertised these pricey new additions. It seemed to me that the renovation was done without much adherence to sentiment, and the chandeliers were like a boastful presentation by themselves. A little disappointing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree. I think you lose all sense of history if you update things that much. I love seeing how it was at the time as much as possible, so I prefer restoration work rather than prettying-up.

      Delete
  4. I'm so glad I made it here to see this piece. Although I was NOT an Elvis fan (I know, I know, but I didn't like the Beatles, either, which probably says a lot about my taste in music), I LOVE going places with you and since you like Elvis so much, it was fun to see and read your take on this small place.

    I think I would have left about 1/4 of the way through the church reenactment, but I'm not one to stick around when I'm not interested in something.

    I agree with others who commented. Seems to me they are trying to make more than a few bucks off Elvis's name. I have no idea how much you paid for the "tour," but whatever it was, it was probably too much, especially if you were treated so rudely.

    Thanks for sharing Elvis's home. It is disappointing that your tour wasn't as positive as the one you had at Graceland.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm actually not a big Elvis fan, but he was a local boy....

      We sat front and center in the church and hadn't taken interior photos before the presentation started. I wouldn't have been averse to leaving otherwise.

      Delete