Elvis Presley, as advertised

The United States Postal Service has placed several targeted ads to remind the public that new commemorative stamps honoring Elvis Presley are now available at local post offices.

A square-shaped ad with gold background that appeared in the Aug. 31 Chicago Sun-Times is shown here. The ad is specific to Chicago, making a connection between Presley and the address “4220 South Halsted Street, Chicago, IL 60609.”

That’s the former site of the International Amphitheatre, where Presley gave a concert in 1957 wearing, for the first time, his gold lamé suit.

The ad shows Presley with his guitar against a black state outline of Illinois with a white star over Chicago.

Text on the ad reads, “On March 27, 1957, thousands of screaming fans witnessed Elvis Presley walk onstage wearing a gold lamé suit, a first in a series of fashion breakthroughs almost as influential as his music. That’s the Stamp of a Legend.”

The ad notes the new Elvis Presley forever stamp is now available at post offices and online.

Contacted by Linn’s Stamp News, USPS spokesman Mark Saunders said that similar ads “were also shown in Cleveland, Fort Hood, Memphis and Tupelo.”

Cleveland, Ohio, is the home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum; Fort Hood, Texas, is where Presley reported in 1958 as a new Army recruit; Memphis, Tenn., is where Presley lived for many years in his Graceland mansion; and Tupelo, Miss., is where Presley was born in 1935.

Special thanks to Linn’s reader Neal Miller for bringing the USPS ad series to our attention.