Hundreds of pieces of Elvis Presley memorabilia were auctioned off over the weekend by a longtime collector trying to win back his girlfriend after she warned him, ”You leave the Elvis clothes or I’ll leave you.”
Items auctioned in Beverly Hills included three Elvis concert suits, two of which sold for $125 000 and $50 000, said Alan Lipkin, senior vice-president of
Regency-Superior, which organised the online auction. The third suit was still on the auction block.
Also sold were necklaces Elvis gave to girlfriends and friends, cufflinks he received from President Richard Nixon and belt buckles he wore, Lipkin said. About 90% of the keepsakes were sold by early Sunday evening, with the auction continuing into
the night.
The seller, Jim Curtin, collected Elvis memorabilia for more than 30 years and met the star numerous times. So why give up the lifetime collection?
”He’s doing this to try to win back his girlfriend,” said Lipkin. ”She left him, saying ‘You leave the Elvis clothes or I’ll leave you.”’
Attempts to reach Curtin, who lives in Philadelphia and has an unlisted number, were unsuccessful.
Curtin has been a die-hard fan since he was eight years old, when he began collecting Elvis mementos, according to the Regency website.
”We picked up 600 cartons of memorabilia from his house,” Lipkin said.
Curtin also has written books on the music legend and done impersonations across the country, according to the site.
His unrelenting adoration eventually got the attention of Elvis, who personally presented Curtin with a white jumpsuit he wore in a Houston concert in 1974, the site says.
Curtin’s collection also included signed records, thousands of photos and two original ticket stubs to a 1956 episode of The Ed Sullivan Show on which Elvis appeared. The stubs sold for $19 000 Lipkin said.
Total auction sales wouldn’t be tabulated until Tuesday, but organisers estimate the take could reach $2-million. – Sapa-AP