Where Elvis Got His First Guitar
Tupelo, Mississippi
Tupelo Hardware looks much the same as it did in 1946, when 11-year-old Elvis Presley came in with his mom. Gladys Presley wanted to buy her son a birthday-present bicycle. Elvis wanted her to buy him a rifle. The well-stocked store sold both, but since neither party was happy with the other's idea of a gift, a compromise was reached.
Mom bought Elvis a guitar.
The store still has the same wood floors and oak-stained, glass-fronted counters, which now are just as likely to be stocked with Elvis sweatshirts and collectibles as drain cleaner and wrench sets. The store no longer sells bicycles (or guns), but in honor of its most famous customer it still sells guitars.
The Elvis guitar never returned, but the store displays a photo of it on the wall where the original once hung. The spot where Elvis stood is marked with an X of duct tape, and high above the service desk hangs a portrait of The King made from buttons.