My stroll over to the discount store took me near the now empty Boulevard Souvenirs gift shop. I don’t know when the store originally opened but it had the feel of a store that might have been around when Elvis was still alive. It continued to provide Elvis fans with a variety of Elvis stuff including the cheapest, thinnest Elvis Week shirts. Their air conditioning didn’t work very well. You could find unofficial Elvis merchandise there and stuff you couldn’t find anywhere else. This is where I met Mary Jenkins, Elvis’ cook and got an autograph and picture with Dr Nick, Elvis’ doctor. No trip to Elvis Week was a complete without a stop at Boulevard Souvenirs. It wasn’t until a few days later that I found out they have moved the store to a new location in April of 2020, across the street from Sun Studios. More spreading out of the things that have been staples of Elvis Week.
While I was at the street, decided to walk down to the gates of Graceland. In previous years, people would already be camped out, staking their spot in line for the Candlelight Vigil. Because of the changes to security, there was no more camping out in line. A handful of black people were standing in the queue line looking at the wall. They looked like curious locals, maybe even potential BLM protesters who would be among the people not welcome at the Vigil. BLM groups had targeted Graceland in the past and one of the ladies was wearing a shirt that said, “It’s not MY King’s birthday.” While not a direct reference to Elvis (and Elvis Week is a celebration around the anniversary of his death, not birth), it just felt like these people would not be welcomed but weren’t looking to be welcome either. I would have talked to them, but they kept their distance.
On my way back to the visitor’s center, I ran into a young black man in an Elvis jumpsuit and wig. I talked to him and his mother. They were from Memphis and were Elvis fans. When I asked his name, he just said he was Elvis and laughed. I was still at the street when I met them, and I never saw them around the visitor’s center. The mother had a good camera around her neck and seemed ready to get pictures.
I didn’t see very many black visitors at the main facility. I wondered if the black people that I did see don’t feel comfortable in that environment, even when they are fans. Most of the people working at Graceland are black. There seems to be a lot of tension between the white visitors and black staff. I have always found the black workers at Graceland to be extremely polite, even when confronted with the most racist customers. I saw one lady having a hissy fit because a worker at the gift shop won’t tell her when they close, saying “I hate this place!” Her friend tried to calm her down saying they don’t know because they aren’t sure when the vigil will wind down.
There were no problems with international visitors this year because there were none. When I was riding into Memphis, the DJ on Elvis radio said when he was coming into work, he heard 4 different languages. I didn’t meet anyone from outside of the US this year. The only people with any hint of accent were from Utah and Colorado.