Elvis newspaper clippings

A month ago, my youngest daughter took a trip to Washington, D.C., and the surrounding areas for her school’s “American History Tour.”

(OK, everybody sing: “The American History Tour is coming to take you a way…”)

Sorry … I had to do that.

Anyway, she and her class went to the Lincoln Memorial, the White House, Monticello, the Vietnam Memorial, the Iwo Jima Memorial and the Smithsonian, to name just a few places.

She had a blast.

While she was there, she picked up a couple of things for me.

One was a USA Today (because she knows I love newspapers and I don’t usually buy a USA Today) and the other was a New York Times special package featuring all the Times’ articles about Elvis Presley.

She knows how much I love Elvis, as well.

The package features print reproductions of the articles, in context with the original page layout, on newsprint.

They range from when the paper claimed “Presley Termed a Passing Fancy” in 1956 to commentary on his Ed Sullivan appearances to when he took the oath that made him Pvt. Presley.

The collection also reviews his movies and recaps his marriage to Pricilla Beaulieu in 1967.

It also features the stories of his death and the ones following his death.

What I found interesting was how the paper’s opinion changed throughout the years.

In the ’50s, the paper was critical about the singer’s style, moves, voice and acting. But when the article about his death in August ’77, the paper called him “the first and greatest American rock-and-roll star…”

The best thing about the package is the stories don’t end there.

There are articles (large feature articles) that date from 1984-1995, which, to me, shows how much of an impact Elvis has had on American pop culture.

So, I’d like to thank my daughter for this great and timeless gift.