The Moss Collection

Part of the Moss's collection on display - Sep. 29, 2011
Photo © James V. Roy

Larry Moss is a native of Memphis.  He and his wife Judy are the owners of Interstate Blood Bank and Dinstuhl's Fine Candies and have been collecting memorabilia since1973.  It started when they got boxing champ Joe Frazier's autograph on a dollar bill.  Larry's dad was a graduate of Hume's High School, Elvis' alma Mata, and was friends with Red West when they played football together.  This may also explain their fascination with Elvis memorabilia in particular.

The guitars in the Moss collection on display - Sep. 29, 2011
Photo © James V. Roy

Their collection includes many pieces that would be the envy of any Elvis fan and include, among other things, Scotty's 1952 ES-295 used at Sun, Bill's 1956 Precision Bass (currently on loan to EPE and on display at Graceland), a guitar once owned by Elvis and used in several films like Follow That Dream and the guitar given to Anita Wood one Christmas by Elvis.  At one point Larry owned the 68 Hagstrom played by Elvis in the 1968 NBC Special and regrets now selling it.  Not quite as collectible but unique none-the-less is the Gibson Super 400 used by Jonathan Rhys-Meyers in the CBS mini series during the 1968 special segment to represent Scotty's.

Clothing on display in the Moss collection - Sep. 29, 2011
Photos © James V. Roy

Clothing on display in the Moss collection - Sep. 29, 2011
Photos © James V. Roy

 The American Eagle cape and belt along with personal and movie clothing of Elvis' - Sep. 29, 2011
Photos © James V. Roy

 Sweaters and jackets owned and worn by Elvis in the '50s and '60s - Sep. 29, 2011
Photos © James V. Roy

 The red jacket from Lansky's owned by Elvis and seen in varied promotion photos of the '50s - Sep. 29, 2011
Photo © James V. Roy

Not just limited to guitars, the collection, parts of which are periodically on loan and displayed at Graceland and the Stax museum, also includes clothing of Elvis', contracts (like the original contract with the Colonel from the RCA signing in 1955), and the third American Eagle cape and belt made for Elvis after he gave the second one away during 1973's Aloha From Hawaii concert. The collection even includes Lisa Marie's marriage license to Michael Jackson.

Postcard sent to Dewey Phillips from Elvis in Las Vegas in April of 1956  - Sep. 29, 2011
Photo © James V. Roy

Larry Moss displaying many of the pieces in his collection - Sep. 29, 2011
Photo © James V. Roy

 The contract signing the Colonel as special adviser to Elvis with RCA from November 21, 1955 - Sep. 29, 2011
Photo © James V. Roy

Larry Moss displaying many of the pieces in his collection - Sep. 29, 2011
Photo © James V. Roy

The items pictured here are just a few of the items in the collection they made available to us and on behalf of the fans everywhere we want to thank Larry and his wife Judy for this presentation and appreciate them sharing them with us.

Page added October 14, 2011

All photos on this site (that we didn't borrow) unless otherwise indicated are the property of either Scotty Moore or James V. Roy and unauthorized use or reproduction is prohibited.