Fifty-six years ago today, a small order was ready for pickup at a Beverly Hills jeweler. On October 19, 1970, the first batch of 12 “TCB” necklaces was collected from Schwartz and Ableser Jewelers, and those little gold pendants went on to become one of the most famous symbols Elvis ever wore.
TCB stood for “Taking Care of Business.” The lightning bolt underneath it meant “in a flash.” If you were a man in Elvis’s inner circle, a bodyguard, a buddy, one of the group fans later called the Memphis Mafia, there was a good chance you got one. It was his way of saying you were family.
But the women close to him got something different.
His mother figures, his relatives and his dearest female friends weren’t left out. Elvis had a matching version made just for them, with its own three letters. One of the women who received one was country music star Brenda Lee, who loved hers so much she framed it.
So what did the ladies’ necklace say?
It said “TLC,” for “Tender Loving Care.” Same gold and the same idea, with a softer message for the women he cared about most. Fans who have spent years admiring the famous TCB pendant are often surprised to learn the gentle twin ever existed.
There’s a bit of lore behind the design too. Priscilla is often credited with helping shape the TCB logo, reportedly sketching it during a bumpy flight through a storm. Elvis loved it, and before long the real thing was being made up in gold.
Elvis’s own jeweler on what it meant to get one
Here’s a short clip of Lowell Hays, the man who made jewelry for Elvis, talking about how freely Elvis gave these pieces away and what it really meant if one landed in your hands.
Hays would know better than almost anyone. He spent years at Elvis’s side with a case full of gold, and he saw who got a necklace and who didn’t.
These pendants still turn up at auctions today, and collectors pay serious money to own one. A single TCB necklace that once belonged to a close friend of Elvis has sold for tens of thousands of dollars, which tells you how much that little bolt of lightning still means to people.
The TCB and TLC story is really a story about how Elvis treated the people he loved. He handed out gold the way other folks hand out birthday cards, and he made sure the women in his life knew they held their own special place.
Watch the clip above to hear his jeweler explain it in his own words.