Fascinating vintage ephemera collection from Elvis Presley’s legendary two-day concert stop at the Olympia Theatre in Miami, Florida, on August 3 and 4, 1956. The collection was amassed by Miami resident Sherry Page, a 16-year-old model who briefly accompanied Elvis during his August tour of Florida, traveling with him from Miami to Tampa, where she and her mother stayed at the Hotel Tampa Terrace in a room rented and paid for by the King. The collection includes: a pair of ticket stubs for the August 3rd concert at the Olympia, issued as tickets 821 and 823; an unpublished color 4 x 5 photo of a shirtless Elvis posing with Page; a 1956 'Mr. Dynamite' souvenir photo album for RCA Victor; the original Hotel Tampa Terrace paid receipt for “Page Sherry & Mother,” for two nights on August 5 and 6, 1956, amounting to $24.54; three vintage 8 x 10 promo photos; Hotel Tampa Terrace postcards and a matchbook; two unfolded Elvis bubble gum card wrappers; and a huge assortment of 1956 clippings from Miami area newspapers related to Elvis’s frenzied two-night concert series. In overall very good to fine condition.
Accompanied by a letter of provenance from Page’s daughter, which reads, in part: “After the [Olympia] concert [Elvis] invited my mom and her girlfriend to continue on with him to his next venue in Tampa, FL. They went on with him to Tampa without the permission of their parents and, my grandmother, who worked for the Miami Dade Police Department at the time, had a police escort follow Elvis to Tampa and explain that my mother was only 16 years old and unable to continue on any more travels with Elvis without a chaperone. Elvis was kind enough to invite my mom and grandmother to attend the Tampa concert as his guests and put my mom and my grandmother up in the ‘Hotel Tampa Terrace’…Elvis had invited my mom and my grandmother to go to Mississippi to meet his mom but they were unable to go due to my grandmother’s work commitments. So this ended my mom’s travels with Elvis in 1956.”
By August 1956, Elvis Presley’s popularity with teenagers and young adults was exploding. On March 2nd, 1956, Colonel Tom Parker had taken over the role of Elvis’ manager. As the spring turned to summer, Elvis made a number of national television appearances that boosted his popularity and record sales.
With the filming of his first movie scheduled for late August of 1956, Elvis’ days touring were going to become scarcer following his shift in career priority. Elvis would become a very popular movie star after the launch of his first film, Love Me Tender. Colonel Tom Parker scheduled Elvis for a very busy tour of Florida in early August, prior to him leaving the road for the silver screen.
Elvis was scheduled to perform in seven Florida cities as part of the August tour. The first stop was Miami where he was scheduled to perform seven shows in two days at the Olympia Theater. Once it was announced that Elvis would be in Miami on August 3rd and 4th, the frenzy and excitement could hardly be contained.
Even prior to Elvis arriving in Miami in his lavender-colored Lincoln on Friday, August 3rd, excited fans were beginning to gather outside of the front entrance to the Olympia Theater. According to Dene Petitclerc of the Miami Herald, fans began to line up outside the theater prior to midnight on Thursday, and the line went around the block by noon on the day of the show.
As Elvis arrived in Miami, he headed straight for the Robert Clay Hotel for check-in. Parker had turned down an invitation to stay at the Fontainebleau Hotel on Miami Beach for fear that fans would destroy the place trying to get at Elvis. The Robert Clay Hotel was located near the Olympia and made sense considering Elvis was performing for multiple shows over two days.
After Elvis checked into the hotel, an enterprising Miami Daily News reporter showed up at the Robert Clay Hotel and was able to get an exclusive interview with Presley. Reporter Bella Kelly was able to get the scoop that Elvis never wears ‘blue suede shoes’ because of fear that the shoes would get stomped by adoring fans trying to get to him.
Elvis was scheduled to go on stage for the first show by 3:30 pm on Friday, August 3rd. At about 4 pm, Elvis strolled on stage wearing a lavender jacket, black pants, and white shoes. Immediately, the crowd could barely contain themselves. The excitement escalated the first time Elvis went into his patented dance moves.
Elvis was protected by a band of Miami Policeman. As they witnessed the crowd’s reaction, one officer shook his head and said he hadn’t anything like this since Sinatra came on the scene. Despite police protection, one fan was able to grab and tear off a part of Elvis’ pink jacket.
Following the first show, Presley was spotted at the back door of the theater by a mob of 2000 fans that were waiting on NE Second Avenue. It was around 5 pm and the crowd blocked rush-hour traffic on the busy downtown street. Runyon reported that the mob almost broke a police line to rush the stage door. Runyon’s photographer captured the crowd for the Daily News and it was part of the story the next day.
By the end of the last show on Friday, Elvis made his way to his car only to find it covered in love notes and phone numbers written in lipstick. His lavender Lincoln was only a couple of weeks old. The next morning, Elvis went to Miami Lincoln Mercury and traded in his vandalized car for a new Lincoln Continental Mark II.
On Saturday, Elvis would conduct four more shows. The last show started at 9 pm and Elvis immediately left town at the conclusion of that show. He was due in Tampa the next day to continue his Florida Tour of 1956.
