This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 9/8/2022
Offered are four contact sheets of images from taken from an 8mm film shot on February 1, 1961, of Elvis Presley visiting the site of "The Elvis Presley Youth Recreation Center" that was to be built in Tupelo near his birthplace home. Elvis travelled down to Tupelo from Memphis after returning from Hollywood where he finished filming Wild in the Country. Joe Esposito and Anita Wood accompanied Elvis that day, and they were all surprised that not much progress had been made--in fact the sign had fallen down! The contact sheets emanate from the Eddie Fadal estate, and Eddie's stamping is on the reverse of several of them with his company name "E.W.F. Enterprises". It is unclear is Eddie actually shot the film or just took the images from a copy of the film at a later date. Regardless, we have 15 images from what was several minutes of footage of Elvis laughing off the state of the project. (A copy of the film can be seen by clicking here.)
The background is that on September 26, 1956, Elvis returned home to Tupelo Mississippi to perform two shows at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair & Dairy Show. During that trip, Elvis told the Mayor “I saw the house I was born in and 15 acres for sale. I want you to take this check back and put it to build a park for the kids of East Tupelo.” A year later, on September 27, 1957, Elvis returned once again to his hometown of Tupelo to perform at the fairground in a show to benefit the planned Elvis Presley Youth Center. It was during this trip that Elvis donated $14,000 for a youth recreation center to be built. He felt that the kids growing up in East Tupelo needed a place to congregate and play without having to go to West Tupelo where they were scorned.
The contact sheets measure 8 x 10 inches each and present in Excellent condition.