Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for Duster Episode 2.
There are some pieces of memorabilia that aresimply priceless, andthe latest episodeofDuster, appropriately named “Suspicious Minds,” references one that’s pretty much the holy grail. Looking to get the dirty Sheriff Wessom Groomes (Donal Logue) off his back, Jim Ellis (Josh Holloway) seeks the help of a mobster known as Sunglasses (Patrick Warburton), who idolizesElvis Presley.Jim promises Sunglasses the King’s iconic pair of blue suede shoes in return for his help, but is left with a warning: there’s an inscription inside the shoes, so Sunglasses will know if they are not authentic. What follows is theheist of a lifetimefor our boy Jim, but some questions remain. Are the blue suede shoes he steals the real deal? What’s inscribed on them? And were they ever stolen in real life?
Jim Ellis Scores the Heist of a Lifetime With Elvis’ Blue Suede Shoes
The very expression “blue suede shoes” is enough to make everyone’s ears perk up; it’s the name of one of Elvis' most famous songs, after all. It was actually written by another rock ‘n’ roll legend,Carl Perkins, with Elvis simply recording and releasing it as a single as a tribute to Perkins, who had just suffered a serious accident. With the King’s unique voice, however, his rendition of “Blue Suede Shoes” became a hit, and,as a nod to the song, Presley had an actual pair made for him to wear while performing. So it’s no wonder that Sunglasses would be attracted by Jim’s offer, being such a fan, connoisseur, and collector of Elvis memorabilia.
Stealing those shoes wouldn’t be easy, butlucky for Jim, he knows where they are and how to get them. As it turns out, Izzy (Camille Guaty) has already been to Elvis' house in Palm Springs, and points Jim in the right direction to where the shoes are kept. Jim even gets his father’s glass cutter, but ends up not even needing it, as Colonel Tom Parker (Brian Reddy) himself is there throwing a party; Jim just walks in like he belongs. The shoes are kept on display in the Colonel’s office, who’s busy planning Elvis' iconic Hawaii show for the following year in 1973, so Jim lures him out thanks to aspiring actress Adrienne Barbeau (Mikaela Hoover) in order to have access to the shoes with no one watching.To avoid drawing any suspicion, Jim puts the shoes on and leaves his brown boots in their place, then proceeds to get the hell out of therein his Duster.
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Jim meets Sunglasses at the gangster’s bowling alley later on, but their reunion is a less-than-happy one because Charlie (Peter Murnik), Sunglasses’ gunman, was killed by Groomes. With their fight and Sunglasses' subsequent death,we never learn whether the blue suede shoes Jim stole were the real deal or not. As it turns out, the shoes have somehistory themselves, and, according to their own timeline, it’s highly unlikely that Jim would have made it out of his deal with Sunglasses.
Elvis’ Blue Suede Shoes Are Among the Most Coveted Memorabilia of Rock ‘n’ Roll
Needless to say, any object directly related to Elvis Presley is priceless, but his blue suede shoes are on another level. Heactually wore themduring his performance onThe Steve Allen Showin 1956. It’s particularly curious that Sunglasses would have no problem with stealing them in 1972, whenDusteris set, because Elvis himself was still alive and would have noticed the absence of such a prized possession. The Colonel himself must have been livid upon learning that the shoes were stolen from his very office, right? Yet it seems thatthe pair Jim swiped weren’t the real blue suede shoes worn by the King.
In 1958, Elvis joined the U.S. Army and wasshipped offto serve in Germany. The night before he left, he threw a farewell party in Graceland, where hegave awaysome of his possessions and iconic memorabilia to his friends. The iconic blue suede shoes were gifted to Alan Fortas, a close friend and the manager of Presley’s ranch. Fortas kept the shoes for years, and they toured many Elvis museums until, in June 2024, they were finallyauctionedoff by Henry Aldridge & Son andboughtfor over $150,000, which still seems cheap, given their significance. Those shoes have been authenticated by Elvis' long-time friend and authority on the King’s life and career, Jimmy Velvet, so they are definitely the real deal.
The only inscription known to be inside Elvis' blue suede shoes is their size, 10.5, and that gives us a pretty good hint about whether the shoes Jim stole for Sunglasses are real or not. When Jim returns to the bowling alley, he shouts that he “got Elvis' size 11s right here.” Sunglasses previously said thathe would knowthe inscription, and, although he never reads them, if he knows Elvis' size number, he doesn’t need to, because Jim has just revealed that they are fake. This is probably why Sunglasses then demands the three thousand dollars Jim had promised before offering the shoes — at least he wouldn’t walk away empty-handed.
Thankfully, Elvis Presley’s Shoes Were Never Stolen in Real Life
So, if the shoes were fake, why would Colonel Parker keep them on display in his office? Probably to impress unsuspecting minds who wouldn’t know that those weren’t the blue suede shoes.If he had the real shoes, leaving themon displayduring a party in which anyone had access to his office wouldn’t be very wise. Also, they were probably decoys, since there are certainlyother valuable thingsinside Elvis' house, but who would care about that when his blue suede shoes are right there? If you’re going to steal something, better that it be a a fake pair.
Inreal life, however, the blue suede shoes have never been stolen.In 2004, they were on display at the Elvis-A-Rama Museum in Las Vegas when a group of thieves broke in.They stole many valuable items, including pieces of clothing, jewelry, and other items, but actually overlooked the blue suede shoes. The only explanation for this is that they weren’t really familiar with the King’s work and career and simply looked for the shiniest objects, because if they had actually planned it, they would certainly have known about the shoes.
Dusteris streaming on Max. New episodes air weekly on Thursdays.
