Elvis In Weeki Wachee Springs - now with fan footage

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Elvis In Weeki Wachee Springs - now with fan footage

#1461198

Post by MikeFromHolland »

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On Sunday afternoon July 30, 1961, Elvis visited the park Weeki Wachee Springs in Florida, on the west coast.
Elvis was nearby filming "Follow that Dream" and wanted to see the Weeki Wachee Mermaids for himself.



Announcement in a local newspaper:
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About Weeki Wachee Springs:
Weeki Wachee’s heyday began in 1959, when the spring was purchased by the American Broadcasting Co. (ABC) and was heavily promoted. ABC built the current theater, which seats 500 and is embedded in the side of the spring 16 feet below the surface. ABC also developed themes for the underwater shows, with elaborate props, lifts, music, and story lines such as Underwater Circus, the Mermaids and the Pirates, and Underwater Follies. The mermaids performed Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz, Snow White, and Peter Pan.


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Posted on YT by FloridaMemory


In the 1960s, girls came from as far away as Tokyo to try out for the privilege of becoming a mermaid. The glamorous mermaids performed eight shows a day to sold out crowds -- as many as half a million people a year came to see the Weeki Wachee mermaids. Weeki Wachee Springs employed 35 mermaids, who took turns swimming in the shows and captivating the crowds by playing football and having picnics underwater. Some of the mermaids lived in the mermaid cottages out behind the attraction. The mermaids wore one-piece suits and were treated like royalty wherever they went in Florida.

All sorts of people stopped to see the mermaids, even Elvis. Don Knotts, Esther Williams, and Arthur Godfrey all came to Weeki Wachee.
Source: http://www.weekiwachee.com/index.php/about-us/history-of-weeki-wachee-springs


More info on Weeki Wachee Springs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weeki_Wachee_Springs


A related blog:
New Elvis biography claims King took home syphilis from Weeki Wachee visit
BY FRANK FENCIL · MAY 31, 2014

The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll may have said some kind words after his visit to Weeki Wachee, but a new biography shows Elvis Presley was anything but fond of the historic tourist attraction.

In fact, Presley’s three-hour-long 1961 visit to the park was a sort of wham-bam-thank-you-mer-ma’am affair that left him with a lifelong reminder of his trip, according to the new book’s author.

“I found a journal Elvis kept at the time of his visit, and he maintained extensive notes on the women he bedded,” said author and Presley researcher Michael Starke, whose new book ‘The Real Elvis: What The King Hid From His Kingdom’ comes out Tuesday. “And let’s just say that, according to his journal entry for that day, he made it upstream to spawn with every last mermaid on the staff at the time.”

Yet the pleasant afternoon fin-on-skin session left him with nasty reminder of his encounter with the denizens of the deep. Doctors records and more journal entries cited in Starke’s book detail Presley’s lifelong battle with a case of syphilis he attributed to one of the nine mermaids he claimed to have been with that day.

“Elvis was certain he caught that case of syphilis at Weeki Wachee, and he held a grudge about it the rest of his life,” Starke said. “Until the day he died, he wrote very regularly about the place — often calling it ‘Leaki Crotchi’ — and there is even some evidence that he tried to purchase the park with the intention of shuttering it.”

These new revalations have drawn mixed reactions from other Presley historians, Graceland and Weeki Wachee officials. In the case of the park, representatives said Starke’s new book “does not accurately portray the mermaid lifestyle” but they were prohibited from commenting further.

And at least one Weeki Wachee native and the self-proclaimed park historian said Starke’s allegations are downright offensive to those familiar with Weeki Wachee.

“Think about how little sense it all makes,” said Timothy Wells, a lifelong Weeki Wachee resident who has written three books about the park. “These mermaids had it all. They ruled an underseas kingdom. What would they even see in a mortal man?”



(Frank Fencil is an award-winning journalist with more than two decades' experience. He has uncovered government corruption, toppled dirty police forces and covered two foreign wars as an international correspondent. He chose to return to his native Spring Hill in hopes of giving his hometown the quality watchdog journalism it deserves.)
From: http://springhillcourier.com/2014/05/31/new-elvis-biography-claims-king-took-home-syphilis-from-weeki-wachee-visit/



Fan Footage in terrible quality. Does anyone have this in better quality?

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the photos:


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(c) Pål Granlund - Follow That Dream Records (2013)

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(c) Pål Granlund - Follow That Dream Records (2013)

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(c) Pål Granlund - Follow That Dream Records (2013)

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(c) Pål Granlund - Follow That Dream Records (2013)

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Sources:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.135210406755.134739.73143551755
https://www.youtube.com/user/weekiwacheesprings
http://cs617528.vk.me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCNO-NE4-Vk
https://photobank.nbcuni.com/sales/home.php
http://springhillcourier.com
http://fromwayuphigh.com/weeki-wachee-springs-blows-up/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weeki_Wachee_Springs
https://aquariumworks.org/tag/elvis/

And:
http://www.memphisflash.de/2013/06/elvis-presley-summer-of-61-follow-that-dream/
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Last edited by MikeFromHolland on Wed Feb 10, 2016 8:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.


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Re: Elvis In Weeki Wachee Springs - with loads of photos...

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Post by GERRY »

FANTASTIC THANKYOU ::rocks



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Re: Elvis In Weeki Wachee Springs - with loads of photos...

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Post by promiseland »

Such an EXCELLENT topic! Thank you for such a wonderful layout and fun read!



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Re: Elvis In Weeki Wachee Springs - with loads of photos...

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Post by MikeFromHolland »

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Thanks for the appreciation!


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Re: Elvis In Weeki Wachee Springs - with loads of photos...

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Post by Hobbes »

Very nice.




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Re: Elvis In Weeki Wachee Springs - with loads of photos...

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Post by GERRY »

Why can't there be film of Elvis greeting his fans. What a fantastic piece of film that would have been.

::rocks



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Re: Elvis In Weeki Wachee Springs - with loads of photos...

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Post by rollinson1 »

Superb post. Well worth the read


ELVIS PRESLEY - THE MOST UNDERRATED, UNDERUSED, WASTED TALENT OF ALL TIME


epf

Re: Elvis In Weeki Wachee Springs - with loads of photos...

#1461339

Post by epf »

Mike, thank you for the time and efforts you put in your topics. Lots of new pics for me, most of the time. You take the effort of creating topics which are out of the box. Keep up the good work, it surely is appreciated by many members here. Thanks again.



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Re: Elvis In Weeki Wachee Springs - with loads of photos...

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Post by MikeFromHolland »

epf wrote:Mike, thank you for the time and efforts you put in your topics. Lots of new pics for me, most of the time. You take the effort of creating topics which are out of the box. Keep up the good work, it surely is appreciated by many members here. Thanks again.

Thank you for your kind words epf! It's my pleasure.


It's amazing though that there seems to be little interest in genuine old articles, like the ones posted here:


Original Penny Wise articles on Elvis 1956/1971 + rare pic
http://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=91650#p1461277


::rocks

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Re: Elvis In Weeki Wachee Springs - with loads of photos...

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Post by Spinout »

Great topic Mike! Thanks for posting: all new info and pictures to me! Just awesome.

What do you know or think about the veracity of this Michael Starke author who is quoted in the Spring Hill Courier article? I've never heard of him or his book and his statement that he happened to find a journal that Elvis kept with "extensive notes about the women he bedded" --and his allegations about syphilis are new and don't seem well sourced: "Doctor's entries and more journal entries" are all that he points to. Though the article says this Starke guy's book is scheduled to be released in 2014, I can't find anything that proves it was (or if if was published, what sort of reaction it got).



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Re: Elvis In Weeki Wachee Springs - with loads of photos...

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Post by MikeFromHolland »

GERRY wrote:Why can't there be film of Elvis greeting his fans. What a fantastic piece of film that would have been.

::rocks

The quality of what I saw is terrible, but it seems to exist:

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Re: Elvis In Weeki Wachee Springs - with loads of photos...

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Post by MikeFromHolland »

Spinout wrote:Great topic Mike! Thanks for posting: all new info and pictures to me! Just awesome.

What do you know or think about the veracity of this Michael Starke author who is quoted in the Spring Hill Courier article? I've never heard of him or his book and his statement that he happened to find a journal that Elvis kept with "extensive notes about the women he bedded" --and his allegations about syphilis are new and don't seem well sourced: "Doctor's entries and more journal entries" are all that he points to. Though the article says this Starke guy's book is scheduled to be released in 2014, I can't find anything that proves it was (or if if was published, what sort of reaction it got).
I think it's nonsense. Never saw the book. And I can't imagine Elvis kept extensive notes, without us knowing by now.

Thanks for your reply!
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Re: Elvis In Weeki Wachee Springs - with loads of photos...

#1461453

Post by Tim C »

The show must go on, Weeki Wachee still puts on a show https://www.floridastateparks.org/park/weeki-wachee


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Re: Elvis In Weeki Wachee Springs - with loads of photos...

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Post by GERRY »

Thanks Mike, wonder if that film has been blown up looks blocky, wonder if it exists in much better quality?

Great to see it though ::rocks



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Re: Elvis In Weeki Wachee Springs - with loads of photos...

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Post by MikeFromHolland »

GERRY wrote:Thanks Mike, wonder if that film has been blown up looks blocky, wonder if it exists in much better quality?

Great to see it though ::rocks
I hope that someone who sees it here has a better quality and wants to share. Would be awesome.

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