One for the cash: Elvis Presley’s blue suede sneakers go for six figures at public sale | EUROtoday

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Elvis Presley’s iconic blue suede sneakers offered for greater than $150,000 at an public sale on Friday.

Presley wore the famed darkish blue sneakers for a number of performances all through the Nineteen Fifties, even mentioning them throughout a 1956 look on Steve Allen’s then-famous selection present. Now, they’re within the fingers of a California-based collector who paid a six-figure worth at a Henry Aldridge and Son public sale.

The excessive worth “reflects the importance of such an iconic object,” Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge advised CBS News.

“When you think of Elvis, you probably think of upturned collars, Las Vegas and blue suede shoes,” Aldridge mentioned.

While Presley didn’t write the long-lasting “Blue Suede Shoes” tune, the tune — and sneakers — grew to become synonymous with him after he coated it on his debut album.

Presley initially gave the sneakers to his shut pal, Alan Fortas, the evening earlier than he left for the military in 1958. Presley and his pals spent the night partying at his Graceland mansion. Fortas, who additionally managed Presley’s ranch, died in 1992.

“That night, Elvis gave me these blue suede shoes size 10 1/2,” Fortas wrote in a letter, in response to the public sale firm. “I’ve owned these all these years”

The sneakers have since appeared in a number of museums, together with Las Vegas’ Elvis-A-Rama. That museum was robbed in 2004, however the sneakers have been miraculously left untouched.

The sneakers have been authenticated by Jimmy Velvet, Presley’s shut pal and the “world’s leading Elvis authority,” the public sale web site reads.

“There is a lot of history wrapped up in these well-worn blue suede shoes which are synonymous with the name Elvis Presley,” Velvet mentioned, in response to the public sale web site.

Presley’s household not too long ago made headlines over a Graceland mansion controversy.

In May, a mysterious firm tried to promote Presley’s property in a foreclosures public sale. They claimed his property had didn’t correctly repay a mortgage that used the Tennessee mansion as collateral.

But actor Riley Keough, his granddaughter, mentioned the declare was “fraudulent” and filed a lawsuit to halt it. A choose then blocked the sale.

The subsequent week, a self-described scammer with ties to Nigeria wrote to The New York Times claiming they have been answerable for the failed public sale try.

Tennessee police turned over the investigation to federal authorities earlier this week, the Associated Press experiences.