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The card, which contains Elvis' earliest known authentic
signature, is one of 72 items featured at Graceland's Aug. 14
auction, according to Angie Marchese, Graceland director of
archives.
"It takes us back to a time where we can identify with Elvis,"
Marchese said of the card. "We were all kids, and we all signed
our library cards."
Other treasures of the "King of Rock'n'Roll" include a script
for his "Love Me Tender" 1956 movie debut and a gold lion's-head
pendant, encrusted with 24 diamonds, two emeralds and a ruby,
that Elvis wore on his famous Oval Office visit with President
Richard Nixon in 1970.
Fans can start perusing items at the Graceland.com/auction site
on Aug. 1 and make early bids. The auction will be
live-streamed.
The items are not part of the Graceland collection but belong to
a private Australian collector, Greg Page, a founding member of
"The Wiggles" children's music group. Marchese said she has
authenticated that every item did indeed belong to Elvis, and
the estate may make its own bids.
The auction is the first on Graceland's grounds, and it will be
part of "Elvis Week," which this year runs from Aug. 9-17.
Thousands of fans visit Memphis every year to mark the
anniversary of Presley's death on Aug. 16, 1977.
Other items up for auction include a maroon-and-silver 1976
Cadillac Seville, the last-known Cadillac purchased and driven
by Elvis; a 1969 written agreement for the singer to be paid
$100,000 a week for shows at the old International Hotel in Las
Vegas; and a 1975 Martin D-28 acoustic guitar.
(Reporting by Tim Ghianni; Editing by Mary Wisniewski and Eric
Beech)
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