Letter written by Elvis to be auctioned

 

Elvis Presley Signed Handwritten Letter to Fan Club Member (January 1956) and Elvis’ First Sun 78 Recording (1955).

Heritage Auctions is holding a Music and Entertainment Auction in Beverly Hills, Ca. on November 12th & 13th, 2010.  Included in this auction is the first known handwritten letter by Elvis Presley dated January 16,1956.  The attached files show the original letter, envelope, and letter from the woman who originally received the letter from Elvis.  This is truly a historical artifact.  The on-line bidding is to begin approximately October 25th. 

Elvis was doing his best to keep up with his ever-increasing fan mail in early 1956, but within two months, when “Heartbreak Hotel” debuted on the charts, that would become impossible. As noted Elvis expert Jerry Osborne notes, “Elvis wrote like he talked”.

That genuineness comes through in this handwritten letter, unusual for its length (examples of even an abbreviated note such as this are relatively rare) and content (not that many fan letter responses from this period have turned up).

Osborne’s Elvis - Word for Word (Osborne Enterprises, 1999) documents a similar letter from the soon-to-be King of Rock and Roll, dated January 17, 1956, one day after this offering, which includes a “P.S.” initialed by Elvis at the bottom.

Accompanying the letter is the original envelope to the fan with the Elvis Presley Fan Club return address stamped on the front. As a bonus, also included is Elvis’ first Sun recording, a 78 version of “That’s All Right” in a nice EX 7 grade (Side 2, “Blue Moon of Kentucky” is in VG-EX 6) A letter from the original fan, dated July 7, 2006 relating the background of the letter is included, as is a letter from the only other owner of this unique souvenir. Comes with a statement from Jerry Osborne who personally examined the Elvis-signed letter. (Source: Clare DeCosmo, 17 Oct 2008)

See the letter and other material below: