Tupelo Elvis Fan Club

“When Vernon was in prison, Elvis and Gladys got extremely close. They were each other’s only world. And Gladys wanted to make Elvis feel special. She’d buy him treats, like ice cream, or maybe something a little out of the ordinary, if she could.”

- Billy Smith

Where was Elvis on this dangerous night?

Fortunately we know exactly where he was and it was fortunate for him that he was where he was, because it could have been a close call.

Catherine Hall had taken Vernon’s sister, Gladys Presley, along with her that evening to the service at the Baptist Church.
Suddenly Little Gladys’ father, J. D., appeared at the back and signaled them to hurry out. There were storm warnings. They hurried into the school bus, together with Gladys, Vernon, Elvis, Minnie Mae, and the rest of her children. Uncle Noah drove them to his house, which was stronger and larger and where they could all be together. The menfolk lined up against the south wall of the house to brace the planks against the worst that was to come. Minnie Mae kept fainting, Catherine remembers, then she would be revived, then she would faint again. Gladys, her baby in her arms, sat quietly huddled in a corner. The tornado twisted through East Tupelo. The house remained intact. When it was over they could see fires lighting up one after the other all across Main Town. Uncle Noah said to the men, “Let’s go. They’re going to need help.” And the men piled into the school bus and headed across the levee to Tupelo.

When Gladys and Elvis got home the first thing they saw was that the tornado had totally razed St. Mark’s Methodist Church directly across the road from them. It had not touched their own home.

The closeness of the disaster could be thought not to have made too much of an impression on a year-old child. But the church would not be rebuilt for over several years and every day, looking at its splintered foundations, Gladys and Vernon would talk of the miracle that had saved their home-and their lives. Would this not have added to little Elvis’ feelings of triumph at having survived yet again?

For years after that, folks kept scanning the skies for warnings.
Children would be gotten up, often in the middle of the night, in March and April and May, to go to their storm shelters the Presleys had a storm shelter in the hills behind them to spend the rest of the night.

Elvis and Gladys
Elaine Dundy

🎸✨ Looking for FREE family fun this summer? ✨🎸

Join us for Little Legends Day at the Elvis Presley Birthplace on July 18 — a day filled with music, creativity, storytelling, and fun for kids and families!

📚 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. Storytime & Guided Tour
🥁 12:00–1:00 p.m. Make Some Noise: Music Exploration Hour & Little Legends Parade with Tupelo School of Music
🎨 1:00–2:00 p.m. Arts & Crafts
🎬 2:00–3:00 p.m. Feature Film Presentation: Live the Dream & Dream the Dream

Plus enjoy:
📸 Photo Opportunities
🗺️ Scavenger Hunt
🎉 Fun & Games
🎟️ Kids Tour Guide Passport

📍 Elvis Presley Birthplace
📅 July 18
💲 FREE Admission

Because all legends start somewhere. ❤️🎶

In late September when the crop was ready, everyone in East Tupelo, men, women, and children, got out into the fields and picked cotton. For the first years of Elvis’ life, Gladys was out there, too, her six-foot duck sack trailing along the ground, picking cotton on Capp Shirley’s place on the Reese farm. It was arduous work plucking the soft white bolls, two rows at a time, grappling with stalks and burrs. One dollar and fifty cents for a hundred pounds of cotton was the going rate. Elvis, one may be sure, was not left at home. To his delight, Gladys set him on her sack and pulled him with her up and down the rows.
In 1937 Brother Gains Mansell became the sole preacher at the FirstAssembly of God Church. He had, in fact, built the small two-roomed, wood-framed building covered with brick veneer with his own hands. It was on Adams Street and over its door was printed the word ‘Welcome? Perhaps it was the feeling of security caused by this familial association with the church that emboldened the shy two-year-old Elvis one Sunday morning to leave his mother’s side in the congregation of sixty-odd people, scramble up to the platform, and join in with the other singers— although he did not yet know the words to the hymns he was singing. It was more likely that his musical ability had simply manifested itself at what seems an astonishingly early age-as did his need to express it.

Elvis and Gladys
Elaine Dundy

A boy without spending money made toys, such as this rubber band gun fashioned from a tire inner tube and a piece of plank. Simple pleasures included playing marbles, fishing, and reading comic books. A favorite character was Freddie Freeman, a shy, crippled newsboy who transformed into Captain Marvel, Jr. It's possible that Elvis assumed his signature hair style, cape, and "TCB" lightning bolt from this early influence.

Who are you rooting for? 🎙️

Current Qualified Contestants for 2026 Ultimate Elvis Tribute Contest:















We still have about 5 more Qualifying Rounds coming up before Elvis Week!

Good Luck to those competing!

⚡️TCB⚡️

See ya this THURSDAY NIGHT! ALL are welcome! Join us for food, fellowship & GREAT entertainment! ⚡⚡🎸🎸