This postcard (postmarked 1947) shows the National Guard Armory facility in Sikeston, Missouri, a WPA project built in 1938 at 300 South Main Street. The Armory is well-preserved and appears to be a recruiting center now, as well as a training facility for the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
The building features an auditorium with an elevated stage that could be rented for civilian events, including concerts. Although there are no known (to me) photos of the January 21st performance, Missouri National Guard member Earl Wade was there with another Guard member, Lloyd Johnson, helping set up the auditorium for the show. Wade was also present for Elvis' September 7th performance, by which time Elvis was much more well-known, and Wade took pictures at that show.
Earl Wade passed away in 2007, but in this picture from the Sikeston Standard Democrat, he can be seen in front of the original stage with a photo he took at the September show. I'm working on obtaining better quality photos of the interior, but it appears that the stage has not been altered since Elvis was there.
Although Elvis was certainly gaining traction as a rising star, he was still unknown to many or most in Sikeston and turnout for the show was low. According to Guard member Bernie Caldwell, also present at the January 21st performance, "I watched him perform and it was a small crowd. I didn't think too much about it."
As the story goes, Elvis' arrival to the venue had been equally unremarkable. Arriving early, he banged on the locked door until someone finally let him in. After rushing to the restroom, he went back out to his car. Elvis had travelled to this show separately from Scotty and Bill in his old Lincoln Zephyr, and when he returned from the car, he was carrying a Piggly Wiggly grocery sack. When he inquired about the dressing rooms, Lloyd Johnson said they were for "that Presley boy", to which Elvis replied, "I am that Presley boy". Earl Wade took him to the dressing room and Elvis dumped out the contents of the Piggly Wiggly sack - a pink suit from Lansky Brothers on Beale Street in Memphis.
The Sikeston Daily Standard ran an article ahead on the 20th that is strikingly similar to those for Elvis' January 20th Leachville, Arkansas show and January 19th Sheffield, Alabama show, so it may have been a press release authored by Sam Phillips or Bob Neal.
Also published on the 20th:
Despite the advertised "top-notch western music" and "laugh-filled comedy", those who were in attendance don't seem to have been overwhelmingly impressed. Earl Wade even said, "Some of the mothers took their daughters out when he started doing the hoochy-coochy stuff."
In a fitting end to what seems an unremarkable Sikeston debut, Elvis needed assistance leaving the Armory. According to Bernie Caldwell, "The first time he was here in an older car that didn't run good and he parked it behind the Armory. When he left, some of the fellows had to push him to get him started, and I remember him turning back and waving to us as he drove out of town."
Sources:
Did Elvis Sing in Your Hometown? by Lee Cotten
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