A Piece of Presley
Sure, he had great hips and a buttery voice, but the next best thing about Elvis Presley was that sleek pompadour. Now fans have a chance to bid on a lock of the King's hair, which was probably cropped in 1958 when Presley sat for a classic crew cut right before joining the Army. Gary Pepper, Presley's friend and fan-club president, owned the hair (among other Presley memorabilia) until his death in 1980. The goods were turned over to Pepper's nurse, who is scheduled to release more than 150 items on Oct. 18, 2009.
Mary Williams, who runs the Chicago auction house where the tresses will be sold, says the hair is probably worth from $8,000 to $12,000, but there's no telling how much dedicated fans will shell out for a piece of the King. (In 2002, a similar clump sold for $115,000.) Williams said there hasn't been an official DNA test on the strands to confirm that they did indeed belong to the King. Not to worry — John Reznikoff, a Connecticut collector who has samples of other celeb hair, affirmed its identity. "I'm very careful with the hair I authenticate," he said. That's probably enough for fans.