Elvis Guitars

Less than 10 years old at the time, the future King was a frequent visitor who had his eye on a .22 bolt-action rifle. "The older boys in the neighborhood liked to hunt, so it was natural that he'd want to do it, too," said Bill Booth, George's son and now the store's owner. Forrest Bobo, an employee at the time, was married to a relation of Elvis' mother, Booth says. Bobo let the boy work the bolt and play with the unloaded rifle when he would come into the store Bobo told him, 'If you play that, you might be famous someday' just to calm his disappointment.

Well, we know what happened."

At one point, he promised Elvis a present, knowing the Presleys were a family of "slight means," Booth adds. The day his gift was to be given, Elvis came with his mother to show her what he wanted. "We would never have sold a rifle to a child, and his mother told him it was too dangerous anyway," Booth recalls. "His whole world fell in. He just cried and cried, he was so disappointed."

As the child carried on, Bobo suggested a guitar. He told him, "Sit here and play with this guitar-you'll like it," Booth says. Elvis wanted the rifle, but his mother told him he couldn't have it, and that was her final decision. So he cried some more. But finally he plunked on the guitar, because it was that or nothing. Bobo told him, "If you play that, you might be famous someday"-just to calm his disappointment.

"Well, we know what happened." In the years between that fateful $7.75 sale and Presley's first brush with fame, Booth heard from the youngster from time to time. Although Elvis spent much of the rest of his childhood living in Memphis , Booth says, he often came back to play in Tupelo as an adolescent and young adult. "He came into the store one day looking like he'd slept in his clothes for a week," says Booth, who was also unimpressed with the young man's longer, "greasy-looking" hair. "I walked over and waited on him. He bought a couple guitar picks and left, and I thought he was just some crummy looking guy who had come in."

"I turned to an employee and said, ' Leon , did you see that guy?' He said, 'Oh, that's Elvis Presley. That boy can really sing-I believe he'll make the big time.' About a year and a half later, he was on his way up. You couldn't turn on the radio without hearing requests for Elvis songs."

Thirty years after Elvis' death, Booth still marvels at the impact of the local boy who made good. In fact, Booth feels that impact every day inside his store. "It's unbelievable," he says. "People come in to see where he bought his first guitar. Every network & media organization in the world has been here and filmed the place." An occasional challenge is doing business with the extra traffic attracted by the store's place in history. The building was especially crowded this summer, during the week of the 20th anniversary of Presley's death. Anywhere between 30 and 40 people were continually "milling in and out" of the store throughout that period, Booth says - The site of a sale that would help alter popular music, Tupelo Hardware is now one of most frequently visited sites for fans who come to town to trace Elvis Presley's roots. Even on a regular basis, tourists come from all over the country - and from around the world. "I don't know of a single person in the U.S. in my lifetime who ever attracted so much attention," Booth says. "We've never had delegations come on a tour bus just because Franklin Roosevelt gave a big speech here once - but we do because of Elvis."

Booth recalls a Japanese couple who visited recently. "They were just in awe," he says. "It was like a trip to the Holy Land ." However, the couple also had an unusual question for Booth. Since they couldn't speak English, it took a while to make out what they were trying to ask. Finally, Booth figured it out. "They were looking for southern hospitality," he says. "They had heard about it, but they hadn't found it yet, and they didn't know where they could buy it." Booth gives customers a chance to commemorate their visits to the store by selling some souvenir items. A t-shirt features the company logo: a line drawing of the store with the inscription, "Where Gladys bought her son his first guitar." Other souvenirs featuring the logo include yardsticks, lighters, and guitar-shaped key chains. A guitar case on the sales floor memorializes the sale of the guitar.

Interested in learning more about instruments such as the didjeridoo? How about the guitar? Ever consider starting a band? Need to get yourself a brand new electric guitar and need better quality instruments for an upcoming show or concert? Do you need state of the art, affordable drums or guitars for lessons? . For all of this and more. Visit zZounds

A Letter Written October 2, 1979 on Tupelo Hardware Company letterhead

GOOD MORNING - My name is Forrest L. Bobo from Tupelo , Mississippi . I am 78 years young today, but I can well remember the afternoon when Elvis Presley and his mother came into Tupelo Hardware, where I worked for twenty years. He wanted a 22 cal. rifle and his mother wanted him to buy a guitar. I showed him the rifle first and then I got the guitar for him to look at. I put a wood box behind the showcase and let him play with the guitar for some time. Then he said that he did not have that much money, which was only $7.75 plus 2% sales tax. His mother told him that if he would buy the guitar instead of the rifle, she would pay the difference for him. The papers have said that the guitar cost $12.50 but at that time you could have bought a real nice one that amount. The small amount of money that he had to spend had been earned by running errands and doing small jobs for people. I am proud to have a little part in Elvis' life. I had supper with Elvis the night he left for his first audition. We all wished him a great success, and he sure made a great life for himself and the rest of the world. Thank you for your time. Forrest L. Bobo