C2102

American Music

Elvis Presley Teddy Bear Cachet

Subscriber-Only Edition

Autumn 2019 Mail Sale Commentary 

Lot 26 C2102 — Elvis Presley — subscriber-only cachet variety — 1/8/93

This exclusive Elvis variety was a subscriber-only edition. I dedicated it to my Mom who was an avid Elvis fan. It has a "Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear" cachet with a room reminiscent of the 1950s. I made the pre-dawn trek to Bearsville, New York for a very appropriate Elvis pictorial first day cancel. When the door was unlocked, I was totally amazed and surprised to see that the postmistress had acquired a special Elvis pictorial postmark for her Bearsville office. I had gone for the name only expecting a standard cancel. Instead my Mom and my subscribers would get an incredible first day postmark. It's magenta, it's large, and it has an image of a performing Elvis and a line stating that for that one day, Bearsville was an "Elvis Station." It should be mentioned that this was a much-publicized national release, and that the nationwide public frenzy that day will probably never be seen again. This cachet variety is a rare one because it only was made for subscribers. It has a teddy sitting on a claw-armed rocking chair. A color television which became increasingly popular during the Elvis era. And, the familiar portable record player so widespread in the mid-20th Century. It has personal significance as across the very bottom it reads -Dedicated to Mom (Margaret Collins), devoted Elvis fan."