Merry Christmas from Graceland*!
Hello, and happy holidays! December has been a jam packed month, and I have buckets of updates for you all, but today I am writing to issue an apology.
Y'all were right. To the hundreds of you who called my bluff when I claimed that my fascination with the mythology of Elvis Presley was simply a side hobby that wouldn't impact my work in any way, my deepest apologies. You saw the writing on the wall before I did, and you deserve your flowers for that.
*Not currently, I came back to NYC for a month in between research trips
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This first research trip also served as an early celebration of my 25th birthday, which was on December 19. One quarter century down; I cannot wait to see what the next one has in store!
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Special interests are a funny thing. As an autistic person, I have never experienced life without these life sustaining passions, but it can be difficult in the early stages of a new one to determine the difference between an SI and a hyperfixation. My shorthand is usually the six month mark; if I am even more invested and curious at six months than I was at the beginning of an obsessive learning journey, then I bump a fixation up to a proper special interest.
The Baz Luhrmann ELVIS film came out in June, and six months later, I stood in the racquetball court at Graceland, and made peace with the fact that this muse isn't going anywhere, and I simply must dive even deeper to communicate a core truth I am beginning to uncover.
I will share details as I feel comfortable (y'all know how quickly things move over here in House Hall!), but I am overjoyed by what I see on the horizon, and what I have spent the majority of my freetime piecing together. How lucky am I to get to spend my life pursuing the questions that light my soul on fire with wonder!
I spent the first weekend of December at Graceland and in the Presley archives for the first time (shoutout to two of my best friends, Krupa Malawade and Ali Regan, for accompanying and uplifting me), and will be returning in January for the first of what I anticipate will be many return trips to Memphis over the next couple of years. As the mansion was decorated for Christmas, I figured today was as good a day as any to share some of my favorite photos from that trip with you all; as always, if you would like to keep up with my more informal updates (including videos and the like), you can find me over on instagram @itsmargarethall.
May the holiday season fill you with wonder as the year winds to a close. I'll be back December 31 with a roundup of my favorite stories from the past year.
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Perhaps my favorite photo from the trip is this candid Ali snapped of me in the archival museum; the unrelenting joy of learning is what motivates everything I do in life.
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Dee Dee, who has been working with EPE for 25 years, let me interact with a few artifacts while they were reorganizing; pictured here, a photo from Sonny West's wedding, and a Shelby County sheriffs badge.
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Weather in Memphis was thankfully fairly warm for December, which made walking the grounds not only feasible, but enticing.
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The grand staircase of Graceland is perhaps the most iconic feature of its interior, including the rare portrait of Elvis with his natural blonde hair. The poinsettias lining the staircase are donated every year by various Presley fans throughout the world, who purchase the flowers through a charity drive conducted by the Elvis Presley Charitable Foundation, including the Elvis Presley Endowed Scholarship Fund at the College of Communication & Fine Arts at the University of Memphis.
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The tricycle pictured is Lisa Marie Presley's. On special holidays she was allowed to ride this tricycle through the halls, and she favored riding it in circles around the dining table.
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The large group of stuffed animals placed here in the Jungle Room were Christmas gifts given to Lisa Marie by her father throughout her early childhood.
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This time of year the media room is decorated with 45's of Elvis's favorite Christmas songs, and a special Santa hat for the monkey figurine.
(Does anyone else remember Scatter?)
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I find it fascinating that the family chose to wrap the presents in Gladys Presley's room in blue and silver paper, given her Jewish heritage.
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My favorite room in the main house. The pleated fabric that covers the walls and ceiling of the pool room gives the space such a cozy atmosphere!
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My favorite place on the grounds however, is the racquetball building. It is difficult to put into words how special the little brown and cream out building is to me, but I am sure I will find words for it in time. The family graves were covered in gifts, and the grounds were studded with lights and a nativity scene.
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All my love, always,
Margaret Hall
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