The marriage didn't last all that long, but for the Elvis Presley faithful, the wedding day is special still. And now, Elvis fans have the official, Graceland-approved Elvis and Priscilla wedding dolls to remind them of that magical time.
"This is just another way he's making history, and we want to be part of it," aforementioned Angel Durham, who waited all night outside a Graceland souvenir shop to be the first to hand over $65 for a boxed set of the dolls, the newest additions to Mattel's Barbie series.
Durham, 38, of Whitney, Texas, was at the front of about cl Elvis fans lined up to watcher the official unveiling of the dolls, staged as part of Graceland's annual weeklong fan pilgrimage to mark the anniversary of Presley's death on Aug. 16, 1977.
Brenda Moore of Bentonville, Ark., invested less time in getting her dolls but paid out a lot more money for a one-and-only localize of dolls signed by Priscilla Presley.
Moore, 59, offered the high bid of $6,800 when the autographed box set was auctioned to the fans as a fundraiser for Presley Place, an flat building in Memphis for homeless families.
"I was so nervous, I don't know if I saw it really well, but I think it's a honest likeness," Moore said. "They showed them yesterday and I looked at them online. I was planning to buy them, merely never dreamed we would do this."
Moore, a claims manager at Wal-Mart's corporate headquarters, said she and husband Mitchell believe the money is for a good cause.
"Presley Place, where the money will go, we bring to them every year," she aforementioned. "Also, I want that on video display in my living room in a curio cabinet."
The dolls, with faces painted to look like Presley and his bride, were designed from photos of the nuptials. The bridegroom sports a black paisley tuxedo piece the saint Bride wears a white beaded gown and rhinestone tiara.
The couple married in Las Vegas on May 1, 1967, but had split up by early 1972. They formally separated in July 1972 and were divorced in October 1973.
Durham said she got in place Monday night to await her shot at one of the 190 boxed sets Graceland was offering with special unveiling-day stamps. The 40,000 other sets sent to retailers subsequently this yr won't birth those stamps.
Fans gathered for the unveiling were toughened to slices of hymeneals cake and orange juice served in champagne glasses.
Mattel also issued an Elvis and Barbie doll put in the late 1990s.
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