Why It's Worth the Stop

The original patchwork coat that inspired Dolly Parton’s 1971 song “Coat of Many Colors” no longer exists, but the story behind it remains one of the most personal of her career. Dolly’s mother, Avie Lee Parton, later created a replica of the childhood coat specifically for display at Dollywood.

Nearby is an equally remarkable piece of music history: the framed dry-cleaning receipt on which Dolly originally scribbled the lyrics to “Coat of Many Colors.” She wrote them while traveling on Porter Wagoner’s tour bus, turning an ordinary scrap of paper into the beginning of one of her most enduring songs.