Author Joel Williamson shared Elvis kept a group of three 14-year-old girls with him on the tour who were up "for pillow fights, tickling, kissing and cuddling when he was 22.
Priscilla was 14 when they met, and he managed to convince her father to let her live with him. I blame the father just a much since he knew what was going down.
Not that I condone any of this, but consider that the cultural disgust of marrying a girl under the age of 18 is a more recent and modern taboo. Back then, in rural United States, it wasn’t an issue at all. Heck as a Gen X kid whose parents were from the Silent Generation, my mother married her first husband when she was 16 and he was 22. She never thought it was an issue other than she regretted marrying anyone at the age. But her parents, church, and teachers didn’t think it was a problem.
It’s hard to believe because most people might say Elvis lived in modern society but he’s not. The 20th century was full of changes that we don’t really think about.
I agree with you on that. And the changes still are going on. I remember in school in the 90’s it wasn’t uncommon for a college guy to date a high school girl with no real repercussion. Not saying that it was right back then, just looked at differently.
It was gross back then too. In the 90s the Coasties would trawl the junior high girls. 25 year old men “dating” 13 year olds. We all knew it was gross as fuck and not okay but small town cops didn’t give a fuck. Hell there was a deputy “dating” a 16 year old too.
It wasn’t looked at differently in the 90s.
A guy in my class knocked up a 14 year old during senior year and we basically all stopped talking to him because fucking ew, dude.
