Beej Weir's Guide to Graceland: Chapter 2: Takin' Care of Business (In a Flash)

So, while I was a fan of The King before visiting Graceland- there were a few things I didn't know about him. And one of those things was that he had created his own personal symbol. That would be his TCB lightning bolt.

TCB stands for "Taking Care of Business" (the lightning bolt being the "in a flash" part). Those of you from from the South may already be familiar with that phrase. But, it was new to this Yankee. I first noticed the lightning bolt in his TV room. I was too busy busy taking pictures to listen to Sam Elliot explain what it all meant (also, I was wearing a hat & the earphones for the audio tour didn't fit that well- Donna filled me in). But, it soon became apparent that Elvis' was quite serious about his own personal symbol. He even took it with him to his grave...


The true origin of this symbol will be made clear later in this post. But, before we get to that, we need to talk about Elvis' sense of fashion.

I realize I may be treading on Donna's territory here, but I think it's safe to say Elvis liked clothes. And he had his own sense of style. Graceland is filled with clothes. From his "skinny Elvis" days to his days in the Army (OK, maybe he didn't have much of a choice there), from his wedding to his 1968 comeback TV special & beyond- it was clothes, clothes, clothes...


But, it was his amazing jumpsuits that people most remember...


What made this man of humble origins from Tupelo, Mississippi decide to wear crazy-ass jumpsuits & capes? It's simple, really. Comic books.

Elvis grew up reading the exploits of one Captain Marvel, Jr. And when he got old enough & rich enough- he decided to become his own superhero. Take a look at the lightning bolt on Captain Marvel, Jr's chest and then take another look at Elvis' TCB symbol. It's pretty obvious, isn't it?

I'm certainly not the first guy to notice this. In fact, for a really great dissertation on the whole thing- I suggest you click on over to Robby Reed's Dial B for Blog's series on Elvis to learn more.

Elvis was definitely a man after my own heart...

Stay tuned for more adventures in Graceland!

Previously:
Part 1