Fans turning yearbooks, videos into prized Aiken memorabiliaThe Associated Press
RALEIGH, N.C. --
Clay Aiken is passing into another realm of celebrity, thanks to those who knew - or just videotaped - him way back when.
From old yearbooks to videos of Clay dressed as Santa and singing Christmas tunes, raiding your Raleigh attic is turning dusty, forgotten keepsakes into bountiful booty.
Take Marc Cram. His stash of Aiken memorabilia has netted him enough to make a mortgage payment.
A certified financial planner in Durham, Cram found some old videotapes he made in the late '90s of variety shows in Garner, where Aiken performed. He edited out everything not related to the Raleigh-born heartthrob, made copies and put them on eBay, an Internet auction site.
The first one sold for $180.
"It's like printing money," said Cram, who has sold about 30 of the videos.
Reflecting on the happenstance surrounding his made-for-eBay gold mine, Cram still sounds surprised: "I had it in my closet."
Jeannie Holleman of Raleigh - whose family is friendly with Aiken's family - bought the copyright to her daughter's 2001 wedding video and had it copied and re-edited to emphasize the song Aiken sang while the wedding party walked down the aisle, thereby starting a cottage industry.
Her 30-minute videos have sold for as much as $320 on the Internet, and she has peddled about 50 so far. Most have gone for $60 to $85.
Some of the fans' money is going to charity, including Aiken-endorsed good causes.
A number of people are selling Aiken yearbooks, among them Jennifer Riehle, who attended Leesville Road middle and high schools with Aiken.
Riehle has sold three yearbooks on eBay for a total of $1,220. She knew The Measured Man well, but they weren't particularly close. He was Clayton Grissom then, before he took his mother's maiden name.
He signed her eighth-grade yearbook: "Jenn, Have a great summer. Great year in S.S. Don't do anything I would do. Clayton Grissom."
Riehle, a part-time student at N.C. State University, shed no tears about putting her Leesville memories on the auction block.
"I'm a poor student," she said. "I needed the extra money. That's what it's all about."
HERALD TRIBUNE