Elvis Presley’s Graceland Was Like a ‘Fantasy’ at Christmas
Elvis Presley loved Christmas. Every year, he decked out his home of Graceland for the holidays and bought lavish gifts for his loved ones. The celebratory vibe continued into the new year, with Christmas decorations staying up until Jan. 8 – the King’s birthday. Those who were lucky enough to know Elvis said celebrating the holidays with him was an experience they’ll never forget.
Graceland was a ‘wonderland’ at Christmas
When Elvis returned home to Graceland for the holidays, he worked hard to create a feeling of Christmas magic. Every year, he would put up multiple trees, trade his home’s signature blue drapes for bright red ones, and line the driveway with sparkling blue lights. There was also a life-size manger and a large lawn sign reading, “Merry Christmas to All – Elvis.”
“Golly. it was almost like living in a fantasy world. Elvis always liked the decorating of the place,” Elvis’s cousin and Memphis Mafia member Billy Smith said (via Express).
“Inside Graceland was like a wonderland. It wasn’t a formal thing,” Billy’s wife Jo Smith added. “It was never formal, it was just casual … everybody sitting around talking. He wanted to make sure everybody had a good time, everybody was comfortable, all the guys [and] their wives.”
Making sure everyone had a good time included handing out generous Christmas gifts. Members of the Memphis Mafia would receive cash bonuses, as well as presents of cars, jewelry, and fur coats.
“He wanted to make sure that everybody’s family had Christmas,” Jo shared. “He was that way all year long, but at Christmas, it was just special.”
Elvis Presley’s father once left the Graceland Christmas tree up until March because his son was in the Army
As a major star, Elvis traveled the world. But he loved to return home to Memphis for Christmas so he could be with his closest family and friends. But one year, he couldn’t be at Graceland for the holiday. In 1959, Elvis was serving in the Army. That meant that the 24-year-old spent the holiday in Germany, where he was stationed. It was the first holiday he spent with his future wife Priscilla Presley, who was then 14. She gave him a set of bongo drums as a present, she said in a 2017 interview with NPR. He gave her a ring and a watch.
Back in Tennessee, Elvis’s family decided to keep the holiday spirit alive until he returned home. Elvis’s father Vernon Presley kept one Christmas tree up for months so that his son wouldn’t miss that year’s celebration.
“Because he wasn’t at Graceland for Christmas that year, they left the Christmas tree up in his dad’s office until the day Elvis came home from the army in March of 1960,” Angie Marchese, Graceland’s vice president of archives and exhibits, recently told Architectural Digest.
In 1962, Elvis and Priscilla spent their first Christmas together at Graceland.
“It was really beautiful,” Priscilla recalled in her interview with NPR. “Elvis drove me up the front gates. And then the gates open up, and I see all these beautiful lights. And he takes me to the front door, opens it up, and all of his friends are there to celebrate the holidays. It was, how can I say? It was already joyous, music was on, and it was such a happy time.”
Source: Elvis History Blog
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