TV Radio Mirror (1960)

Record Details:

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Minnie Presley; his secretary, Elizabeth McCormick; his good-looking young father, Vernon Presley; and an unidentified young woman shrouded in mystery and known only as Dee. Speculation ran riot about the stylishly-dressed, blue-eyed blonde who arrived on Papa Presley's arm. Some wondered if she were Elvis's friend or Mr. Presley's. Soon it was confirmed that "Dee" was the girl Vernon Presley had dated last summer in Memphis, and she had been in Germany since December. Her identity was not fully revealed, however, until the official announcement, a month later, of the engagement of Vernon Presley and Mrs. Davada ("Dee") Stanley, divorcee and mother of three young sons. Soon after he came home, Elvis drove down to Beale Street in his black Lincoln limousine (he also has a white Cadillac limousine, and he chauffeurs himself), and paid a visit to Lansky Brothers, a clothing store which had outfitted him since his early days in show business. Guy and Bernard Lansky are among Elvis's biggest boosters, and say that he is one of their favorite customers — not only because he buys so much merchandise, but because he is such a fine person. The word from the Lanskys is that Elvis has devised a new style of dress for himself, and it's about as far from a conservative military uniform as you can get. First, he stocked up on black Continental casual slacks (tailored to fit tightly, natch). Then he bought Lansky Brothers' complete supply of formal dress shirts: One dozen, at $12.95 each, fine linen, with tucked front and rows upon rows of French lace. To go with each shirt, he bought a cummerbund: Gold satin with black lace overlay; red satin, also with lace overlay; black satin in a quilted finish. And, to top it all off, he bought a dozen pah-s of cuff-links in brilliant jewel tones to match the cummerbunds: Sapphire blue, red, gold, rhinestones — all the same design, about an inch square, and cut to emit the greatest possible sparkle. He has also been seen in a black silk Continental suit, and a white leather Continental jacket, gift of another girl he sees frequently, Carolyn Frazer. Carolyn is the young lady who, with her mother, moved to Memphis from New Orleans just to be near her idol. When Elvis departed for Miami to film the Sinatra show, he was wearing a pork-pie hat — the first civilian hat he's ever owned, so far as is known. Elvis loves jewelry, and one of the most recent of his acquisitions is a triangular-shaped wristwatch with black face and luminous dial. This he wears alternately with a fine watch Nick Adams gave him. He also sports an onyx "pinky" ring given to him by one of his many girlfriends,, and a new silver medallion, though no one seems to know just what it is or how Elvis acquired it. Shortly after his arrival in Memphis, Elvis invited the cast of "Holiday on Ice" to tour Graceland. The company spent the afternoon looking over the home and grounds. Elvis explained that he previously had monkeys, cats, peacocks, but now has only one pet— a toy poodle. He still has his collection of stuffed animals, however, and he gave each of the four children in the cast a souvenir animal. One of Elvis's new enthusiasms is Karati — a system of defensive and offensive fighting without the use of weapons. Elvis says he can break a one-inch board with one blow of the hand, and his friends say he's been seen to fling a man of his own weight all around the room while demonstrating what he's learned. He took lessons from a, Japanese instructor in Paris. (Aside from talking about this experience, Elvis's remarks about Europe have been rather few and far between and noncommittal.) Physically, the Army has affected Presley to this extent: He's twelve pounds lighter, weighing about 170. He hopes to hold this weight. Now that he's back, he's letting his hair grow longer, but will probably not revert to the quite-long hair style with sideburns. All agree that, psychologically, the two years' Army experience has tended to mature Elvis. His friends say that his thinking is more serious, has more depth. He also seems to have calmed down a bit, isn't as compulsive about doing something every second. He still is pursued by the feeling of insecurity which drives him to surround himself night and day with people. "I never like to be alone. I like people around me. When I'm by myself, I get to thinking. I don't like to think." The reception of the people of Memphis has been generally very warm. A prominent dentist remarked, "I guess I'm too old to like his music, but I admire the kid and I'm proud of his success." A merchant: "He's only getting started. He's going to be bigger now than he's ever been." On the negative side, a cotton executive complains about the local coverage of Presley's habits: "In the morning headlines: Presley Goes To Sleep. Afternoon headlines: Presley Wakes Up." To which Presley fans might reply, "Sour grapes! You're just jealous because Elvis is currently the biggest thing in Memphis — where Cotton has historically been King!" (Continued from page 22) neighborhood antique shops for furniture. "Why, with all those apples around," he teases, "Julann will have to take up jumping on them to make apple cider." Julann reminds him: "There are grapes, too. And if we can pick enough dandelions, we might try making wine out of them, as well. All for medicinal purposes, mind you," she twinkles. From the front of the house, the view is down the valley and out over the hills. It is nothing less than breathtaking, and sunset is such that neither artist nor poet can capture the beauty of it. Yet all this tells only a part of the story, for there are five buildings on the property, not to mention an outdoor dining area with barbecue pits. The main house, which sits on an original stone foundation dating back to the early 1700's, is a three-story clapboard structure, with white walls T and black shutters. It contains sevenv teen rooms, with fireplaces in the re, ception hall, the living room, the dining room and the downstairs playroom. Wide-board pine features most 78 Make Mine Country Style' of the flooring. There is oak paneling in the living room and pine paneling in the dining room, and the staircases are made of mahogany. While preserving the Early American charm of the house, the previous owners spared no expense in making it practical and modern, so that the Griffins found little lacking when they moved in. The spacious kitchen, for instance, has a dishwasher. A washerdryer and freezer also are at Julann's disposal, and each of the bathrooms is equipped with a stall shower. The playroom embraces a billiards room and a walnut bar. Other buildings on the property are a mill baz-n of such ancient vintage that it still houses wheels for grinding grain, a hunting lodge, a stagecoach house and a workshop where Julann plans to pursue such hobbies as ceramics, quilting, and canning — if the small garden she has started yields enough vegetables. "We're doing as much of the painting and redecorating as we can do ourselves," says Merv, who is much more of a do-it-yourself addict than one might suspect. "Gosh, there are so many things to do — but we love every minute of it." Toward that day when they would purchase the place — they had their eye on it for almost a year — Merv and Julann started to fill up their East Side New York apartment with antiques. Julann has had a field day gathering up still more, since they made the move. "But," she emphasizes, "these are antiques we can live with. There is nothing luxurious about them. We want our home to be comfortable, above all else." The Griffins haven't given up their New York apartment and don't plan to. Merv now commutes by car from Califon for his TV shows and spends his entire weekends there. When winter comes, he and the family will move back to town and limit their Jersey visits to weekends. "I don't mind the commuting at all," he says. "And when new roads are completed in a couple of years, we'll be only forty-five minutes from Broadway." Both Merv and Julann have taken to country life as if they were born to