Original Elvis Photos Create Buzz (Cut) Original Elvis Photos Create Buzz (Cut)

 

On the 50th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s haircut during his induction into the Army at Fort Chaffee, five black and white images of the original event have surfaced. The photos, which likely ran in the Southwest American newspaper, were discovered by Rick Altes, a photographer from Greenwood, about three years ago during an estate sale, he said. Altes, 55, spoke to a group of more 30 people who gathered Tuesday where Presley lost his dyed-black locks in building 803 at now-Chaffee Crossing.

 

Altes said he has always been interested in history, music and photography and when he found the photos in a file cabinet he bought from a living estate auction he “was very aware that I really found something important.”

 

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After doing some research, Altes learned that the photos were more than likely taken by a photographer at the Southwest American. He said a Times Record representative told him that back then negatives were thrown away and prints were filed. Eventually, the prints would end up in the trash, too, so someone apparently dug them out of the trash, he said.

 

The Fort Smith Convention and Visitors Bureau received the images from Altes as a donation and the Visitors Bureau will display the photos until there is an Elvis barbershop museum.

 

Fort Smith Mayor Ray Baker referred to the work of Fort Smith elementary teacher Jan Honeycutt, who along with her students, began raising funds in 1996 to save the building from demolition.

 

“Thank you, Elvis, and thank you to what you will mean to the economy of this community,” Baker said as he showered a cardboard cutout of Presley in an Army uniform with 50 red rose petals.

 

Honeycutt hopes that eventually the building will be turned into a museum.

 

One of the photos Altes donated shows barber James B. Peterson with Presley during the haircut. Peterson’s widow, Edith Peterson, 86, of Muldrow, who attended the ceremony Tuesday, has the clippers, comb and scissors used during the 1958 event. She said she missed seeing Presley that night because she was attending beauty college and was not allowed to miss a class.

 

Barber Fred Kinslow of Greenwood, who worked with Peterson, said he tried to catch a glimpse of Presley when he arrived at the barbershop that day. However, the barbershop owner, H.L. Sallee, told him that Peterson was going to cut Presley’s hair.

 

“It was a thrill to me thinking that I might get to cut his hair,” Kinslow said. “The cameras were on him all the time he was here.”

 

Kinslow said Peterson later told him that Presley was “an outgoing young fellow who was just as friendly for a man at his place in popularity.”

 

One of the chairs removed from the barbershop belongs to Kinslow’s family. He can’t say for certain whether the chair is one that Presley sat in to get his hair cut. Kinslow’s son, who owns it now, told him, “Dad, that’s close enough.”

 

Source: Google / Updated: Mar 26, 2008

 

 

Elvis fans want lock off barber site

 

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Building 803 at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas is typically indistinguishable from other World War II era buildings surrounding it. Not Tuesday.

 

On March 25, 1958, Building 803 held one of Fort Chaffee’s barbershops — the one where Elvis Presley got his famous haircut during a three-day stay as part of his induction into the Army. “Everyone in the U. S. knows this building exists and yet it sits here without electricity and deteriorating like the other buildings on the base,” said photographer Rick Altes, who was in a group of about 20 people who gathered Tuesday at Building 803 to commemorate the event. The group wants to invigorate efforts to preserve the building and establish a museum. Among those attending the anniversary commemoration Tuesday were Edith Peterson, widow of the man who cut Presley’s hair, James “Pete” Peterson; Sheila Merrill, widow of Leon Merrill who swept up Presley’s shorn locks; and Fred Kinslow who was a barber at Fort Chaffee the day of the famous haircut. Merrill said Tuesday that none of Presley’s hair was preserved. She said a major stood by and kept an eye on her husband while he swept up Presley’s hair from the floor and put it in a trash can with the hair of the others who also had their hair cut that day. Merrill and Peterson got a military police escort when they went to dump the can containing Presley’s hair to ensure that none of it survived to be kept or sold as souvenirs, said Carolyn Joyce of the Fort Smith Convention and Visitors Center. “He never regretted” not getting some of the hair, Merrill said of her husband. “He was just glad he was there.” Kinslow acquired one of the chairs from the barbershop and gave it to his son, who has the chair in the den of his Greenwood home. Kinslow isn’t sure it is the same one Presley sat in for his haircut. “If it came out of there, it’s close enough for me,” he said. Another chair believed to have come from the barbershop is in Lisa Thompson’s barbershop on the current Fort Chaffee. Thompson has the Paidar brand barber chair in a section of her shop that has been turned into an Elvis Presley shrine complete with photos, documents and a pew she said Presley sat on when he attended a church service on base. She’s had the chair for 17 years and it has become a popular attraction. It’s common for foreign soldiers training at Fort Chaffee to have their photos taken sitting in the chair, she said. Thompson said she has been offered as much as $ 7, 000 for the chair. Building 803 now sits on a 7, 000-acre tract called Chaffee Crossing. The U. S. Department of Defense gave up the land in the 1990 s to be redeveloped for civilian use. The walls and roof of the building seem sound, but the interior has been gutted. The sinks and chairs are gone, but dirt outlines on the floor against one wall show where barbers ’ cabinets once stood and, with some imagination, where the chairs were positioned. Ivy Owen, Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority’s executive director, said he would like to discuss a possible museum with the Fort Smith Convention and Visitors Bureau, which will display the photos. Such a museum also could involve a restored barracks and the old Maness school, a pre-Fort Chaffee stone schoolhouse near the Janet Huckabee Arkansas River Valley Nature Center, Owen said. The idea of preserving Building 803 dates to 1996, when Beard Elementary School teacher Jan Honeycutt had students begin raising money for the preservation as a class project. She said Tuesday the project is ongoing and has raised more than $ 1, 000 so far.

 

 

Published: march 26th 2008 12:56 PM.

Source: Arkansas Democrate Gazette / Published by: ElvisMatters - David Hamal . - Photographer: David Hamal

 

 

I would have picked up his hair and taken it home with me. :yahoo:

I would have picked up his hair and taken it home with me. :yahoo:

I'd have picked Elvis up and taken him home with me :wub: :dance:

I'd have picked Elvis up and taken him home with me :wub: :dance:

 

 

:w00t: :yahoo: Share, share share :cheer:

:w00t: :yahoo: Share, share share :cheer:

You know I'd share him just with you :wub: :yahoo:

Talking about Elvis in the Army, here's some sad news :(

 

Grünewald Closed

 

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The famous 'Grunewald Hotel' in Bad Nauheim, Germany, where Elvis rented an entire floor during his (first) army days, is no longer open. The current owners used to rent the 'Elvis Room' to fans. However, they have come to an age that they decided to stop this 'service'. A pity really, as this was a unique opportunity to experience a special night in Elvis's European home.

 

Source: ElvisMatters / Updated: Mar 30, 2008

 

 

Flower Tribute at European Elvis statue

 

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Fifty years and 5 days after Elvis was inducted in the US Army (beginning with a training in Fort Hood, Texas), some 350 fans from all over Europe gathered at the Elvis Presley Platz in Bad Nauheim, his European home. Next to the Grunewald Hotel, where a plaque was placed to honor Elvis, fans laid down flowers and cards. Proof again that Elvis, although gone for over 30 years, is not forgotten. ElvisMatters was present this weekend, and it gave us great pleasure to see so many familiar faces. Our next trip to Bad Nauheim is scheduled for June 21st and 22nd.

 

Published: march 30th 2008 05:27 PM.

Source: ElvisMatters / Published by: ElvisMatters - Peter Verbruggen . - Photographer: Michel Van Erp

 

Lovely tribute :cheer:

 

Thats a fantastic tribute, some beautiful flowers there :wub:

Memories of the King: 50 years ago, Elvis trained at Fort Hood :cheer: Great article

 

http://www.kdhnews.com/news/story.aspx?s=24367

 

 

Thats a great article Carole.

Elvis in Germany celebrated 50 years on:

 

Fifty years ago this week, Elvis Presley and his parents came to Fort Hood, where the junior Presley trained with Alpha Company, 37th Armor Battalion, 2nd Armored Division, as a light truck driver in a tank crew. On March 28, 1958, local attorney Chester Crawford and his wife rented a home on Oakhill Drive in Killeen to the Presleys, who lived there for 25 weeks, during which the music superstar underwent basic and advanced individual training to become a soldier.

 

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Elvis Presley lived in this house on Oakhill Drive when he was stationed at Fort Hood in 1958.(Herald/JOHN A. BOWERSMITH)

 

Pvt. Presley was inducted into the Army at Fort Chaffee, Ark., four days before he arrived at Fort Hood. On Sept. 19, 1958, he and 1,360 other 3rd Armored Division replacements left Fort Hood for Friedburg, Germany. Though the man that would be known as the King of Rock and Roll wasn't here long, his legacy lingers in memories and the occasional promotion.dia frenzy

 

Gerald Skidmore was managing editor of the Killeen Daily Herald in 1958 and was at the news conference when Elvis arrived at Fort Hood. Skidmore remembers Elvis' arrival as chaotic. He was one of three reporters covering Elvis' departure the following September.

 

The news conference on March 28, 1958, was the only authorized press event with Elvis. Reporters were told they were not permitted to interfere with Elvis' training. Reporters from radio stations filled the back of a truck on which Elvis stood, "trying to get one word into their recorders," Skidmore said in an interview this week.

 

Reporters were later invited to interview Elvis at a mess hall while he ate a fish and fries dinner, Skidmore said. Elvis' departure was very different. It was quiet at the railhead, where Elvis boarded a train for California before heading to Germany, Skidmore said.

 

Elvis didn't talk to the media, and he appeared emotional, still affected by the recent death of his mother, Gladys, Skidmore said.

 

Despite the Army's request to allow Elvis to train just like any other soldier, the residence at 605 Oakhill Drive in Killeen, located off U.S. Highway 190, was a gathering place for many Elvis fans while he lived there. Newspaper stories from that time suggest that fans regularly flocked to the home, and on some nights, if he was not too tired, Elvis would come out the front door and sign some autographs. Many cars and fans crowded the street, lawn and porch of the home, sometimes as many as 100 per night, newspaper stories stated. "People were waiting for him every day," Skidmore said.

 

Elvis would get out of the car before getting to the house, climb a hill and sneak in through the back door. Presley's neighbors at the time often gave him permission to cross through their backyards in order to avoid the crowds, Skidmore said.

 

"He was nice and visited with everyone. He was a perfect gentleman and never unkind," Skidmore said.

 

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Photos of Elvis Presley dot the walls of the house he lived in with his parents when he was stationed at Fort Hood in 1958.

Lois Ferrell, then Lois Griffin, now a second-grade aide working at Clark Elementary School in Killeen, remembers her encounter with Elvis. Ferrell's mother was working as a telephone operator at a Fort Hood store when Lois came to pick her up one day. Elvis, who called his mother every day at 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Sundays, came out of the building, spotted Ferrell and her friend, Margaret Wildman, in the parked vehicle and struck up a conversation with the girls.

 

"I remember it was cold, we had the windows rolled up on the car. He sat in the car with us for 20 minutes and talked. He told us to come back that Sunday, and he would take us to a movie," Ferrell said. That Sunday, Elvis drove the girls to a movie in a leased Cadillac convertible. Ferrell sat beside Elvis, and Wildman sat in the window seat.

 

"A couple of his Army buddies were at the movie, but they didn't come with us," said Ferrell, who couldn't remember the name of the movie. "He (Elvis) was nice and generous. He bought all the Girl Scout cookies on sale and passed them out to everyone in line at the theater," Ferrell said.

 

"I remember he said that he wished he could go off post (he was restricted to post at the time, before moving off post) and visit with us in our homes. I had a piano in my house and offered to host a jam session, but he said that it would attract too much of a crowd and make everyone miserable," Ferrell said. "Overall, it was a wonderful experience for a 17-year-old," Ferrell said.

Close encounters in Killeen

Tommy Joe Mills, of Modern TV and Appliance, located at 315 E. Avenue C, recalls his brief interaction with Elvis. In the spring of 1958, Elvis and Sgt. Maj. Bill Norwood came into the store to buy a television set. Elvis was buying the TV for the soldiers in his company. Mills sold him a 21-inch, black-and-white General Electric television set; Elvis wrote a check and signed it, "E.A. Presley." Mills' daughter, Gwen Stewart, then 8 years old, told her father to keep the check. Mills didn't keep it because he needed the money.

 

"I wish I had kept it," he says now. "It would be worth quite a bit."

 

Eric Carlile, a next-door neighbor, was 6 years old in 1958. He remembers Elvis climbing up the hill behind his home and sneaking in. He also remembers that on Sundays, women, wearing their Sunday best, formed a line stretching from Elvis' home down the street. They would wait to meet him, get a kiss and have their photo taken with him, Carlile said.n to sender

 

In August 1958, just before Elvis' departure from Fort Hood, his fans petitioned the Killeen City Council to change the name of Oakhill Drive to Presley Drive, bringing nationwide publicity to the area. In 2006, the 2,400-square-foot house on Oakhill Drive made history again when its owner, Myka Allen-Johnson, put it up for sale on eBay because she could not afford to convert it into a historical landmark. The house is currently for sale for $170,000.

 

Now, 50 years after his stay in Killeen, local businesses are running Elvis specials. Hooters in Killeen is offering an "Elvis sauce," which is available upon request. The hot sauce is not on the menu because, "Elvis has left the building," said general manager Wayne Young.

 

In honor of Elvis' stay in the city, Shilo Inn & Suites is offering a Heartbreak Hotel package for guests, said Sherry Hoffpauir, director of sales. The package includes a reservation in the "King" junior suite; a snack of jelly doughnuts, a personal favorite of Elvis; an Elvis Presley greatest hits CD; and an "Elvis Slept Here, You Can Too" T-shirt.

 

(News, Source: Iuliana Petre - Killeen Daily Herald/www.epgold.com)

Can you imagine renting your house out to Elvis, i would have put up loads of hidden cameras in every room, especially his bedroom and the bathroom. ;) :yahoo: :w00t: