Hair-Raising Elvis Auction

If you wanted a chance to own a hunk-a-hunk of Elvis Presley's hair... sorry, you're a little too late.

On Sunday, a clump of hair believed to have once crowned The King's head sold for a cool $15,000 at a Chicago auction house. According to Chicago Tribune, the hair was believed to have been shaved off Elvis's noggin when he joined the Army in 1958.

The locks were one of 200 Elvis-related items up for bid via Leslie Hindman Auctioneers in Chicago. Other items on offer included photos from the reception of Presley's 1967 wedding to Priscilla, Christmas cards he sent, Elvis dolls, Elvis Pez dispensers and a whole lot more. Whew! No word on how much his sweat-stained scarves sold for on the block. (and let me add that I realize the guy is an icon and all... but eww!)

All the items -- including those sweat-stained scarves -- once belonged to Gary Pepper, a friend of the King's who ran a popular fan club. He died of cerebral palsy in 1980.

Superfan John Urso bought the priciest item at auction: a white cotton shirt with an "EP" monogram for $52,000. He also became the proud owner of a red ultra-suede shirt the King wore at a photo shoot. Urso snagged that shirt after ponying up $28,000.

"It's worth every penny," he declared to the Tribune. Urso plans to show off the shirts in display cases alongside signed Presley albums.

Another fan, Adam Holbrook, described by his girlfriend as "crazy obsessed" attended the auction and proudly showed off his mutton chops and three Elvis tattoos. He couldn't cough up the cash for the big-ticket items, but seemed happy he went home with some Elvis dolls. "It was just fun to attend the auction," he said.

It was pretty fun blogging about it, too.

Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress via Wikimedia Commons.