adminThe Presley family’s financial situation was largely unstable between 1940-1948. Depending on the employment status of Elvis’s father Vernon Presley, the family sometimes buys a house, other times is forced to sell it and moves into a rental home. They move places five times within Tupelo in this period. In hope of a better life the family decides to move to Memphis, Tennessee, in September 1948.
Elvis becomes a pupil at Humes High School where, for the first time in his life, he is provided with nutritious meals at the school canteen. The school’s kitchen prepapres lunches and dinners to a high standard, using seasonal ingredients and varied cooking techniques so the children have access to healthy food every day. Some said, the food was better at Humes High than in a restaurant!
Elvis likes the food at the school but sadly, the daily cost of 25 cents is too much for the family to afford. Elvis even enters employment at the Loews Theatre as a ticket inspector to earn some money but that is still not quite enough for him to pay for lunch every day and so he often goes hungry during the day. Occasionally his teachers pay for his lunch. Elvis’s favourite dishes at the canteen are the Italian Spaghetti, meatballs, and cakes.
Elvis also loves peanut butter as a child which appears in lots of different foods such as biscuits, cakes or sandwiches. His mother Gladys regularly prepares him the old American favourite, a Fried Peanut Butter and Banana sandwhich.
The Presleys rarely get to eat meat. In tighter times they even trap squirrels if there is nothing else to eat. Pork or chicken is only cooked on special occasions with mashed potatoes and simples sauces, which Elvis loves to eat.
Here is an example of a typical weekly menu at the school from 1952: ( Tennesse State Depeartment of Education School Lunch Program Memphis City Schools ) , from the Book “The Life and Cusine of Elvis Presley-David Adler
- Monday: Glorified hot Dogs, Hash Brown potstoes, Cole Slaw, Baked Applle with Whipped Milk, Topping, Milk
- Tuesday: Chicken Pot Pie, Spinach,Grapefruit and Orange Salad, Biscuits-Butter, Chocolate Pie, Milk
- Wednesday: Shepherd’s Pie with Potato Topping, Turnip Greens, Cole Slaw, Corn Bread, Butter, Cranberry Betty, Milk
- Thursday: Italien Spaghetti, Green Beans, Spiced Beets, Fruit Jell-O Salad, Plain Muffins-Butter, Ice Cream-Milk
- Friday: Fish Flake Salad, Bean Soup, Cabbage-Carrot Strips, Buttered Toast Strips, Fudge Cake-Milk
