This past June, Bonhams auction house had John's belt up on the auction block. Here is what the auction listing said about the belt:
A newspaper article taken from the 'Dallas Morning News' sometime in the week the Beatles were due to arrive for their concert at the Memorial Auditorium has a photograph of Dell Perry and Suzie Chapman, of The Beatles Ltd., one of several fan clubs in Dallas at the time. They are shown holding the four belts, donated by the Justin Boot Co., that they intended to present to the Beatles.
The girls from Beatles Ltd. presented the western belts to the Beatles at Memorial Auditorium prior to the concert, either before or after the press conference (which took place in the basement of the venue). The press conference began in the 7 o'clock hour. The opening acts didn't come onstage until the 8 o'clock hour and the Beatles didn't hit the stage until 10 pm, so there would have been plenty of time to present the belts to them backstage. Once onstage, the Beatles played the customary half-hour and then immediately departed for Love Field, flying out of Dallas at a little after 11 pm. There is indeed an article that ran in The Dallas Morning News in the week leading up to the Friday night concert, showing the Beatles Ltd. officers holding the belts they would present to the Boys. We know that the Beatles Ltd. girls didn't meet the group early on like the co-presidents of the Dallas chapter of the National Beatles Fan Club (Stephanie Pinter and Yolanda Hernandez). Stephanie and Yolanda were able to spend 2-1/2 hours with the Beatles in their hotel suite just after their arrival in Dallas in the wee hours of September 18th. They would meet the Beatles again at the venue before the concert to present them with those famously-photographed black Stetson western hats. They deliberately didn't bring the Stetsons to the hotel because they wanted a second chance to be with the group and present the hats. (Sneaky girls!) On the other hand, the Beatles Ltd. girls (Dell Perry and Suzie Chapman) only met the Boys at the venue before the concert. My own theory is that both Dallas fan clubs presented their gifts to the group at the same time in two separate ceremonies. When done, the Beatles were decked out with westerns belts and hats. Sara, I sent you a scan of the Dallas newspaper article showing the Beatles Ltd. girls with the belts. Feel free to post it if you'd like. (I don't know if I can post an image in the comments section!)
ReplyDeleteHi mark I have paul mccartneys belt and want to se if you can get in contact with me grahamjohnwalsh@hotmail.com
Delete