Review: “Elvis Presley Treasures” book by Gillian Gaar: 100 Elvis artifacts from Graceland’s archive

If you’ve ever admired Elvis memorabilia on display at Graceland, here’s the perfect souvenir for you! A new coffee table book with 224 pages filled with high quality color photos of Elvis Presley’s most personal artifacts titled Elvis Presley Treasures: The Story of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll Told Through His Personal Mementos. In partnership with the Elvis estate, author Gillian Gaar presents 100 fascinating Elvis memorabilia items with detailed descriptions and back stories as well as historical photos. 

This is not the first time Gaar has written this type of Elvis memorabilia book. She has teamed up with the Elvis estate once before for this popular concept. In 2013, she released Elvis Remembered: 1935-1977 which featured more than 30 items of removable facsimile memorabilia relating to Elvis Presley’s life and career. 

According to Gaar, that book was later republished as Elvis: The Legend in 2017 and 2022 without the removable memorabilia, but the text was the same. Now, in 2024, the concept has been expanded to a completely different book which includes 100 items and shorter captions about the various artifacts. 

The physical attributes of the book make it a fulfilling experience for book lovers. The book measures about 10″ x 12″ and features a cover embossed with Elvis’ TCB logo as well as raised letters for “Elvis Presley”. The TCB logo pattern is also featured on the front and back inside flaps of the book called “endpapers”. All of the photos in the book are of very high quality with some photos having a raised printing (“thermography”). 

While Gaar’s previous memorabilia books were organized by themes, Elvis Presley Treasures is organized chronologically. It starts with items from Presley’s childhood and continues all the way until his death in 1977. It also features posthumous awards that Elvis has received. 

One of my favorite artifacts in the book is on page 84. It’s Elvis’ black shoe that he wore during his February 25, 1961 charity shows in Memphis. It has a customized “EP” buckle on the front of the shoe (see video below). This reminds us how meticulous Elvis was about his clothing and how unique he was by personalizing almost every piece of wardrobe – including his shoes. Surprisingly, the Graceland archives only has the right foot shoe in its possession, and they don’t know what happened to the other one! 

Another fascinating item linked to Presley’s history is on page 124. It’s the Las Vegas tablecloth contract written up by Colonel Parker on the first night of Elvis’ historic Las Vegas 1969 shows at the International Hotel. The tablecloth has been featured in exhibits at Graceland before, but now is close up for all fans to read in this book. 

Of course, a book of memorabilia relating to Elvis would not be complete without his most popular artifacts – his TCB sunglasses and ring. These are featured on page 158, followed by several additional pieces of Presley’s jewelry. 

Unfortunately, the book has a few factual mistakes. There are a few text errors relating to the description of photos in the book. No writer or editor is perfect, but I was disappointed that these mistakes were not caught. 

For example, while I was excited to learn Elvis was eating a lemon tart in the photo from Richmond, Virginia in 1956 on page 6, I was disappointed to see that the photo on page 171 of Elvis and Johnny Cash was incorrectly labeled to be taken in Las Vegas in 1956, when it was really from Nashville at the Grand Ole Opry on December 21, 1957.

In the back of the book, there is a helpful discography of Elvis singles and albums released during Presley’s lifetime, as well as a timeline containing dates of Presley’s career. However, there is one mistake that jumped out at me on page 209 where it says “November 1954: Elvis appears on the Louisiana Hayride for the first time.” Elvis aficionados know that the date was actually October 16, 1954. 

Gaar, who has written for numerous publications including Goldmine, Rolling Stone and Mojo, has also written other Elvis books including Return of the King: Elvis Presley’s Great Comeback, and 100 Things Elvis Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die. 

All in all, this is a wonderful book that new and longtime Elvis fans will enjoy. It is sure to inspire you to plan your next trip to Graceland to see more of the 1.5 million artifacts owned by Graceland’s official archive. 

Elvis Presley Treasures: The Story of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll Told Through His Personal Mementos by Gillian Gaar is available for purchase on Amazon at this link

(Note: This was article was corrected from the original post that said Gaar worked with Elvis estate three times before.)

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This review was written by the Elvis News Examiner, Trina Young. She is the author of 4 Elvis books, including ELVIS: The Army Years Uncovered. Read a free excerpt at ElvisBiography.net.

[Note: I received a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes] 

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