It's as if your crazy aunt -- the one who never threw away anything -- collected, not Hummel figurines, but Elvis memorabilia. Collect may not be the best way to describe what it is that Elvis Aaron Presley MacLeod and his father do. To enter their home-cum-shrine is to enter a parallel universe where ELVIS reigns as lord and master.
In the words of Mojo Nixon, "Elvis is everywhere." Pulling into the sleepy, antebellum town of Holly Springs, Miss., the first-time visitor would be tempted to call Mojo a liar. Things seem normal. Things seem Southern. Pickup trucks outnumber import econoboxes. The traditional courthouse square dominates the town's center. Beautifully restored Greek revival mansions abound.
Even as you turn down East Gholson Avenue, all seems, well, normal. When you reach the 200 block, things take a decided turn. In many small ways the white clapboard home stands out from the others. Black chains rope off the exterior in anticipation of the need for crowd control? Astroturf covers the verandah. A lurid pink sign proclaims that you have arrived:
Elvis Archives
The World's #1 Elvis Fans
Admission $5.00
Though the home, like many of its neighbors, is antebellum (built in 1853), what lurks inside is hardly a vestige of the Old South.
The sign out front proclaims that Graceland Too is open noon to 8 p.m. but, those in the know (that now includes you) show up at all hours of the day and night. Among the undergraduate student population at Ole Miss, a drunken, late-night pilgrimage is a rite of passage invested with much more meaning than any visit to the musty old house in Oxford where that Faulkner guy lived. (Hell, he wrote run-on sentence after run-on sentence and still won the Nobel prize. My high school English teacher, Mrs. Watson, would have flunked me for that.)
Paul MacLeod began collecting Elvis Presley memorabilia soon after Elvis' national television debut in 1956. Take one step inside his front door and you'll see what he's been up to in intervening 40 years. Elvis decanters, Elvis license plates, Elvis busts, Elvis lamps, Elvis wine, Elvis shampoo, Elvis draperies, Elvis gold lame suits, Elvis, Elvis, Elvis .... The collection ranges from the ridiculous, to the sublime, to the obsessive. No space is unadorned. Every inch of the television room ceiling is covered with Elvis trading cards, the wrappers in which they came and the requisite bubble gum which, Elvis MacLeod estimates, "has a half life of over five hundred years."
One would expect as much from a tried-and-true fan of the King. However, how often do you gaze upon Elvis Aaron Presley's high school report card? (He got an F in conduct.)
The MacLeods also boast the last film footage of Elvis -- a one-minute film of the King riding his motorcycle, taken by Paul the night of his death.
From every nook and cranny, relics of Presley's life cry out for your attention. The small framed items on the wall of the music room? Those are the few remaining remnants of the original Jungle Room carpeting -- from Graceland, the one in Memphis. (The MacLeod's supply was nearly exhausted by a home shopping network promotion.)
No doubt, Graceland Too is chock full of Elvis ephemera. What really distinguishes Graceland Too from the average obsessive shrine to the King is the fact that the great majority of their collection is information based.
Thousands of TV Guides line the walls of the foyer -- with every reference to Elvis tagged with a color coded paperclip. Step into the TV Room, where Elvis and Paul monitor the major television networks for any mention of Elvis Presley, dutifully cataloging all instances. Even lowly tourists like you and me are photographed and catalogued.
The MacLeods also act as unofficial Elvis police -- ensuring that all references to the King are without error. As evidence of the need for such diligence, Paul is quick to point out a commemorative plate that depicts Elvis' dance scene from the film "Jailhouse Rock."
To the untrained eye, all seems in order. The problem? The serial numbers on Elvis' prison garb are incorrect.
Though 250-plus people make the pilgrimage to Graceland Too each week, these tours are just a small part of a burgeoning enterprise. The MacLeods' interest
in Elvis has spawned a consulting business. The younger MacLeod is painstakingly transferring all compiled information to computer (his 18-gigabyte hard drive is almost exhausted) and encouraging that correspondence be addressed to his e-mail account.
Can't make the pilgrimage at any time in the foreseeable future? Don't despair, a Web site is in development. Or, save your nickels and dimes until you can afford the trip; Graceland Too is here to stay. As Elvis Aaron Presley MacLeod and his father Paul are want to say: "Elvis will never leave this building."
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 Elvis Aaron Presley MacLeod holds court in Graceland Too. (Photos by John T. Edge.) A shrine at Graceland Too pays homage to Elvis .
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