There she is, on newsreel footage from WBAP TV.
Winnie Johnson is giddy and smiling. She’s the owner of a portrait studio on Jefferson Boulevard, and she’d just photographed Elvis Presley.
This was the time Elvis stopped in Oak Cliff to run some errands between gigs.
It was Oct. 12, 1956. He had performed the previous night at the Cotton Bowl, and he was heading out to a show in Waco. He stopped on the way to have his pants pressed on Jefferson Boulevard. While he waited, he bought motorcycle caps for himself and his bandmates, and he ate a bowl of chili with crackers at a cafe.
Just look at him! Jacket, no shirt, collar popped, pinky ring up. This photo was taken by Jimmy Hylton of the Oak Cliff Tribune.
Johnson also photographed Elvis, in her studio. Who was this woman who owned a portrait studio in Oak Cliff in the 1950s? We’ve followed a couple of leads but haven’t found out anything about her. We would love to hear from anyone who knew her, rstone@advocatemag.com.
The WBAP (now KXAS) footage, below, is courtesy of the UNT Libraries Special Collections to The Portal to Texas History. It’s a silent video, but you can also read the script.
