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Tennessee - When he was alive, Elvis dyed his hair black and made his distinctive pompadour and sideburns a trademark of the early rock era.
On Saturday, a six centimetre high jar of his hair could shake up to $20 000 out of a bidder's pockets when it goes on the auction block in Memphis, Tennessee, where Heritage Auction Gallery is capitalising on the 75th anniversary year of Elvis' birth.
Other items include his white Knabe grand piano with gold trim, tagged at $1m, that stood in his Graceland mansion, and the twin cherub lamps from his Beverly Hills home ($35 000), where he often came out to visit with fans who gathered at his gate.
The hair was collected by his Memphis barber, Homer Gilleland, who travelled to wherever the star was on a special Elvis-supplied credit card. Over the years, Gilleland gave snippets of Elvis' hair to his friends.
One large quantity went to one of his best friends, Thomas Morgan, who later became the sheriff of Shelby County, and it's that collection being sold.
Sheriff Morgan was the man who gave Elvis his honorary sheriff's badge that is also on the auction block. Elvis even once volunteered to become a government agent to help crack down on the growing rock 'n' roll drug scene that he detested.
Ironically, prescription drug abuse has been partially blamed for the King of Rock and Roll's death at age 42 on August 16 1977.
Along those lines, one of the 271 Elvis items in the auction is an empty pill bottle for an antibiotic prescribed by his personal physician, George Nichopolous, "the subject of controversy after Elvis' death for allegedly over-prescribing medication to Presley", the Heritage auction website said.
The hoped-for price tag? $2,500.
On Saturday, a six centimetre high jar of his hair could shake up to $20 000 out of a bidder's pockets when it goes on the auction block in Memphis, Tennessee, where Heritage Auction Gallery is capitalising on the 75th anniversary year of Elvis' birth.
Other items include his white Knabe grand piano with gold trim, tagged at $1m, that stood in his Graceland mansion, and the twin cherub lamps from his Beverly Hills home ($35 000), where he often came out to visit with fans who gathered at his gate.
The hair was collected by his Memphis barber, Homer Gilleland, who travelled to wherever the star was on a special Elvis-supplied credit card. Over the years, Gilleland gave snippets of Elvis' hair to his friends.
One large quantity went to one of his best friends, Thomas Morgan, who later became the sheriff of Shelby County, and it's that collection being sold.
Sheriff Morgan was the man who gave Elvis his honorary sheriff's badge that is also on the auction block. Elvis even once volunteered to become a government agent to help crack down on the growing rock 'n' roll drug scene that he detested.
Ironically, prescription drug abuse has been partially blamed for the King of Rock and Roll's death at age 42 on August 16 1977.
Along those lines, one of the 271 Elvis items in the auction is an empty pill bottle for an antibiotic prescribed by his personal physician, George Nichopolous, "the subject of controversy after Elvis' death for allegedly over-prescribing medication to Presley", the Heritage auction website said.
The hoped-for price tag? $2,500.
