Elvis in his Coffin

[Tony Trout]

Ladies and Gentlemen....I have just found another quirk or kink in this whole mystery:

I was looking at my "Cards Of His Life" collection from the River Group and if the casket was placed at the entrance to the music room to allow the fans to view the body they most surely would have had to come inside the house to view the body because as you walk in or past the front door of Graceland the first thing you see is the stairs and not the living room/music room.

Explain that one....

[srj1967]

Perhaps not relevant.

Remember, this pic was taken by a relative; no one has ever said it was taken during the actual body viewing when fans were coming to Graceland.

My guess is it was taken at another time.

[Tony Trout]

Perhaps not relevant.

Remember, this pic was taken by a relative; no one has ever said it was taken during the actual body viewing when fans were coming to Graceland.

My guess is it was taken at another time.

It's not relevant but I was just trying to clear up what someone said earlier that fans weren't allowed inside the mansion to view the body. You're correct about the photo being taken at a different moment in time. The picture was not taken when fans were viewing the body. The photo was taken during the private family viewing on August 17th, 1977 by Billy Mann, Sr.

[cprimm]

Not to get involved in something, I know nothing about, this is on Find A Death.com, along with a lot of info you don't really want to know.

"I live in Memphis and actually saw Elvis lying in state at Graceland.
A friend who had just gotten her driver's license asked if I wanted to go to Graceland and "check things out" and of course, I did. It was an extremely hot and humid August day, and there were tons of people just standing around the wall and street of Graceland.

No one really knew what was going on and when they were going to let people in to see Elvis. So, my friend and I pushed our way towards the gates of Graceland and were in the first group of 25 people to go in and see Elvis. We had to walk up the long driveway and we were not allowed to deter from the driveway in anyway, or we would be asked to leave. My friend and I walked into the foyer and saw Elvis dead.


There were at least 7 or 8 guys in suits with guns in holsters that were
very obvious to see, and we were warned before entering that we could not touch the casket or the body and we had to move in and
out very quickly. We walked in and out, and my friend asked if I wanted to go back in and see it again.


Well, of course I did. So, we broke in line and walked through one more time. Imagine what my mother thought when she asked what I did that day!

Also, another tid bit, Elvis had a hairdresser who was called to the
funeral home to fix Elvis' hair. Apparently, there was so much gray in his hair and so little time, he used mascara to make his hair
black and to cover the gray."

There is also some other info regarding the casket picture.

[elvis himselvis]

Tony,those photos you have post you can see the original one and the retouched picture.
If you look to the original picture,you can clearly see it's Elvis.
The retouched photo doesn't look like Elvis

[Tony Trout]

Not to get involved in something, I know nothing about, this is on Find A Death.com, along with a lot of info you don't really want to know.

"I live in Memphis and actually saw Elvis lying in state at Graceland.
A friend who had just gotten her driver's license asked if I wanted to go to Graceland and "check things out" and of course, I did. It was an extremely hot and humid August day, and there were tons of people just standing around the wall and street of Graceland.

No one really knew what was going on and when they were going to let people in to see Elvis. So, my friend and I pushed our way towards the gates of Graceland and were in the first group of 25 people to go in and see Elvis. We had to walk up the long driveway and we were not allowed to deter from the driveway in anyway, or we would be asked to leave. My friend and I walked into the foyer and saw Elvis dead.


There were at least 7 or 8 guys in suits with guns in holsters that were
very obvious to see, and we were warned before entering that we could not touch the casket or the body and we had to move in and
out very quickly. We walked in and out, and my friend asked if I wanted to go back in and see it again.


Well, of course I did. So, we broke in line and walked through one more time. Imagine what my mother thought when she asked what I did that day!

Also, another tid bit, Elvis had a hairdresser who was called to the
funeral home to fix Elvis' hair. Apparently, there was so much gray in his hair and so little time, he used mascara to make his hair
black and to cover the gray."

There is also some other info regarding the casket picture.

Yep, Larry Gellar had to use black mascara to cover up the grey that had formed on Elvis's hair...and you are correct 'bout there being more info there than anybody really needs to know...and Scott Michaels (Find-A-Death's owner) didn't seem too thrilled 'bout doin' a story on Elvis....

Tony,those photos you have post you can see the original one and the retouched picture.
If you look to the original picture,you can clearly see it's Elvis.
The retouched photo doesn't look like Elvis.

It doesn't look like Elvis simply because of the horrible retouch job that the artist did...but it is Elvis....that's the sad fact...

[ajr]

Sadly and unfortunately, that photo is real...Elvis is gone...that's him in the casket...I'll reiterate my statement that the casket photo that appeared on the Sept. 6, 1977 issue of the National Enquirer was very badly retouched because someone had spilled something on the picture (or so I've read) and they tried to retouch the chin and the eyes and his upper lip in the photo....take a look at the following example from the National Enquirer's 25th Anniversary Issue and you will hopefully see what I'm referring to:

But, don't you think it odd that NE decided to redo their picture of the casket photo {along with that story} as late as 2002?? Which is about the time that article was printed about the guy drawing it.
Which leads me to another question....how did they get another, better picture if the first one was ruined ?? Or did they get another artist to re-create that one in 2002?? You'd think the first one would have been the most important and therefore would have made certain it was the best .

I'm not gonna get in this as none of us were there. It raises questions, nonetheless .

[memphis 77]

it was roped off in front of the peacock glass windows in the center, i was there those 2 fateful days, you were roped off at the foyer.with guards at either side at the entry.

[meg]

The man died in 2002

[JonRomanovich]

Didn't NE have 4 or 5 pics. The first one was a pic of the floor, the second the ceiling or something, then 3 of the coffin?????????

[JonRomanovich]

Talk to us first about Elvis Presley in his coffin and how you got those pictures.

CALDER: Well, Elvis Presley's coffin ended up being the largest selling issue we ever had, 6.7 million.

COLLINS: Wow.

CALDER: And when Elvis died, we knew it was one of the big, big stories of all time. So, the first thing I did was to send a whole team of reporters and editors to Memphis with $100,000 in their pockets. And we got some wonderful stories.

Now these stories included the exclusive interview with Ginger Alden who was in bed with him just before he died and actually found the body. We also got an exclusive story on the ambulance people who came to actually collect the body.

So, we got wonderful stories, but we didn't have the picture. We finally got the picture. We tried all different kinds of ways. And we couldn't do it because his body lay in-state and people went past the coffin, but he was protected by his friends...

COLLINS: Sure.

CALDER: ... you know, the Memphis Mafia, so no one could take a picture of him.

So, what we did was we watched Graceland, one of our photographers, until one of the relatives actually came out of the house. So, our photographer followed him to a local bar, followed him into the bathroom and went up to him and said, "If you take a really nice picture of Elvis, we'll give you a lot of money."

So, the guy says, "Sure."

So, the next day, we give him a foolproof camera. He then goes in to Graceland, and after the viewing time is over, all the guys go and have drinks and they have a party, et cetera.

In the middle of the night, he sneaks away from the party, goes and takes a picture of Elvis.

Now, we flew him back to Lantana and he said, "I've got four pictures." So, we're waiting breathlessly as these pictures are developed. The first picture is of the guy that took the picture. He had the camera around the wrong way.

COLLINS: Oh no.

CALDER: The next picture was of a chandelier about Elvis's head. So, we're going, my goodness.

The third picture, bingo. That was the great picture of Elvis's coffin. And I've got to say, it was a sellout. And people were actually calling me and offering me $50 for a copy of it.

Also, I was told that in the South a couple of robbers came in with guns in to a small store. Instead of stealing money, they stole all the copies of "The Enquirer."










OK..now wait.. Is there a chandelier in the living room?????????? When Elvis' body was in the foyer, there's a chandelier there, but then the pic of the peacock glass thing isn't right????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????????????????????????? ??????????
maybe he took a pic of the chandelier as he was walking towards the body???

[Tony Trout]

it was roped off in front of the peacock glass windows in the center, i was there those 2 fateful days, you were roped off at the foyer.with guards at either side at the entry.

Were people allowed to enter the mansion to view the body? How could they view the body without going through the mansion? That's where I'm confused.....

[ajr]

Gettin' pretty silly isn't it ??

I'll get myself back to some serious stuff .
Peace out.

[Tony Trout]

Gettin' pretty silly isn't it ??

I'll get myself back to some serious stuff .
Peace out.

Actually, I find the whole scenario and events surrounding Elvis's death fairly intriguing...it's not silly to me....

[ajr]

Actually, I do too Tony. But some accuse me of believing Elvis is alive if I voice my interests here. So, to keep respect for Elvis , I'll just go where I can discuss all this in peace.

Good luck to you.....

[Tony Trout]

Actually, I do too Tony. But some accuse me of believing Elvis is alive if I voice my interests here. So, to keep respect for Elvis , I'll just go where I can discuss all this in peace.

Good luck to you.....

Thanks.....

[Merry]

Someone always looks good to me.

Jess

[elvis0820]

Dont know if this is true or not, but I read an interview with Linda Thompson or somebody and they had said that the body was moved to the front foyer of the house (at the foot of the stairs) for the public viewing. Lisa Marie, Linda and some others were sitting on the stairs watching everyone pay there respects. I think this is what the article said.

[Tony Trout]

Dont know if this is true or not, but I read an interview with Linda Thompson or somebody and they had said that the body was moved to the front foyer of the house (at the foot of the stairs) for the public viewing. Lisa Marie, Linda and some others were sitting on the stairs watching everyone pay there respects. I think this is what the article said.

That statement from Linda makes alot of sense to me because how would the fans have been able to otherwise view the body since they were only allowed to walk by the front door and not go inside the mansion??

[elvis himselvis]

I think we know now where his body stood
Thanks Christian