15 Oddball Things That Happened the Day Elvis Was Drafted
When Elvis Presley received his draft notice on December 20, 1957, it wasn’t just another day for the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, it was a day that would change music history. The heartthrob who had taken America by storm with his gyrating hips and unmistakable voice was about to trade his flashy stagewear for standard-issue military greens.
Here is a list of 15 strange and surprising events that coincided with Elvis getting his draft notice, proving that truth is sometimes stranger than fiction.
Radio Stations Declared “National Mourning”
Several radio stations across America dramatically declared a “national day of mourning” upon hearing Elvis had been drafted. DJs wore black armbands on air, played Elvis songs non-stop for 24 hours, and some stations even draped their buildings with black fabric as if a national tragedy had occurred.
One Memphis station played ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ on repeat for eight straight hours.
Colonel Parker’s Suspicious Calm
Elvis’s infamous manager Colonel Tom Parker appeared oddly quiet over the whole affair as fans panicked. He was alleged to be eating breakfast when reporters asked for remark, and he only said, “Good.
This might generate a million dollars in exposure.’ Before the draft notice ever arrived, Parker had already been scheming how to profit off Elvis’s military service.
Marriage Proposals Skyrocketed
The day Elvis’s draft notice hit the newspapers, he received over 5,000 marriage proposals from female fans. The bizarre logic was that married men with dependents could avoid the draft.
Some women even showed up at Graceland with wedding dresses and marriage licenses, hoping Elvis would choose them to help him dodge military service.
A Fan Club Offered to Send Substitutes
The Memphis Elvis Presley Fan Club made a truly strange offer: they gathered 8,000 signatures of young men willing to take Elvis’s place in the Army. They formally presented this petition to the draft board, which promptly rejected it, explaining that’s not how the draft system worked.
The president of the fan club then tried to argue that Elvis was too important to America’s morale to be drafted.
Haircut Insurance Policy
A barber in Memphis took out an actual insurance policy worth $10,000 against the possibility that he might be chosen to cut Elvis’s hair for the Army. The nervous barber feared his hands would shake too much when faced with removing Elvis’s famous pompadour, and he might accidentally cut the star.
Lloyd’s of London reportedly underwrote this bizarre policy.
Presley’s Blood-Soaked Handkerchiefs
When Elvis reported for his pre-induction physical, fans gathered outside the building. As he wiped sweat from his brow with a handkerchief and accidentally dropped it, several teenage girls dove for it, tearing it into pieces.
A Memphis newspaper reported that some fans claimed the handkerchief had traces of Elvis’s perspiration, and they preserved their fragments in plastic bags as precious relics.
The Stock Market Dipped
In a strange economic ripple effect, the stock of RCA Records (Elvis’s label) temporarily dropped nearly 5% the day after the news broke. Financial analysts noted this was likely due to investor concerns about future record sales during his military service.
Some jukebox manufacturers also saw minor stock slides, proving Elvis’s cultural impact extended even to Wall Street.
A Congressional Exemption Attempt
A Tennessee congressman actually introduced a special bill attempting to exempt Elvis from military service, arguing he was “essential to national morale.” The bill didn’t even make it to a vote, but it demonstrated the extraordinary lengths some were willing to go.
The congressman later claimed it was partly a publicity stunt, but he genuinely believed Elvis boosted American spirits.
The Simultaneous “Good Luck Charm” Mail Flood
On the exact same day Elvis received his draft notice, he also experienced another strange coincidence: over 2,000 good luck charms arrived at Graceland from fans who had no idea about the draft. Items included rabbit’s feet, four-leaf clovers, horseshoes, and even a vial of water supposedly from the Fountain of Youth.
Elvis reportedly kept many of these items in a special collection.
Psychic’s Eerie Prediction
A Memphis psychic named Madame Zelda had predicted in a local newspaper exactly one week before that “a great shock will come to the city’s favorite son.” After the draft notice, she became an overnight celebrity, with people lining up around the block for readings.
She later claimed she’d seen Elvis in an Army uniform in a vision months before the official notice.
The “Patriotic Haircut” Trend
In a strange display of solidarity, hundreds of teenage boys across America requested what barbers dubbed the “patriotic cut”, essentially asking to have their hair styled like they imagined Elvis’s military haircut would look. This trend started the very day after the draft announcement, with barbers reporting young men specifically asking for “the Elvis Army cut.”
Elvis Doubles Materialized
Within 48 hours of Elvis’s draft notice, at least seven men in different parts of America claimed they were being hired as “Elvis substitutes” to fulfill performance contracts while the real Elvis served. None were officially sanctioned, but several small venues actually booked these impersonators, creating the first wave of what would eventually become the Elvis impersonator industry.
The Pressley Family Mix-up
In a bizarre administrative error, the draft board in Tupelo, Mississippi initially sent a notice to an Ernest Pressley (note the spelling difference), causing temporary confusion. This unfortunate man received hundreds of phone calls from reporters before the mistake was clarified.
For years afterward, he dined out on stories of his “almost famous” day.
The Unusual Military Request
The day after Elvis’s draft notice became public, Army recruiting stations reported an unusual 30% spike in voluntary enlistments from young men. When interviewed, many specifically mentioned hoping to serve alongside Elvis.
The Army had to issue a statement clarifying that requesting specific assignments or fellow soldiers wasn’t possible.
Global Press Coverage Overshadowed International Crisis
Perhaps the strangest aspect of Elvis’s draft notice was how it dominated global headlines, overshadowing a brewing international diplomatic crisis. Major newspapers around the world devoted front-page coverage to Elvis’s draft notice while relegating important Cold War developments to inside pages.
The New York Times ran an editorial questioning whether America’s priorities had gone astray.
The Legacy Lives On
The day Elvis got his draft notice wasn’t just weird, it was a cultural turning point that revealed how deeply one performer had penetrated American society. From economics to fashion to politics, Elvis’s influence touched virtually every aspect of life.
While his two-year military service temporarily paused his skyrocketing career, it ultimately helped transform him from a controversial youth icon into a respected, mainstream entertainer who could appeal to multiple generations.
More from Go2Tutors!
- The Romanov Crown Jewels and Their Tragic Fate
- 13 Historical Mysteries That Science Still Can’t Solve
- Famous Hoaxes That Fooled the World for Years
- 15 Child Stars with Tragic Adult Lives
- 16 Famous Jewelry Pieces in History
Like Go2Tutors’s content? Follow us on MSN.
