Teen Diary Rekindles a Magical Debut

 Teen Diary Rekindles a Magical Debut

By Mary Mack Conger

The Chicago Tribune

September 5, 1984

        20 years ago, a 14-year-old Iowa girl traveled to Chicago to see the Beatles perform at the International Amphitheater. For her, it was an impossible dream come true. She wrote about that day and the events proceeding and following it in a diary. 

        I found that diary in my attic recently, and suddenly it was 1964 again, I was that 14-year-old girl.

 April 11:  The Beatles are coming to the USA! It's true! Sue and I are making plans to see them at the Indiana State Fair. Maybe Sue's sister will take us, but we'll get there if we have to crawl. Mom says, When I get older, I will look back on these days and realize how silly I was, but how can I help it now?

April 12: The Beatles have the two top songs in the nation, number one, "Can't Buy Me Love" and number two, "Twist and Shout".

April 14:   This town is a real hick town. I sure wish I lived in England. But here's some good news, Sue and I learned today that we don't have to go clear to Indianapolis to see the Beatles. They're going to be just next door in Chicago!  Hey, maybe we could go to both places. Now we need to work on getting Sue's sister to take us.

April 15:   Chicago, here we come! Sue's sister said she'd take us. Now I have to start pulling in the babysitting jobs. Got to go now, as always, I've left my homework until 11.

 April 16: WLS is going to have a five-hour Beatles spectacular with a live person-to-person call to all of the Beatles on Saturday. I'm babysitting that night. Can't wait!

 April 17:  Made $3 babysitting last night. That's a start toward my Chicago fund. Sue sent our ticket money in today. I'm tired now.

 April 18: Today, Ron Riley and Art Robbins of WLS had the Beatles on the phone for two hours. They had just finished a session for their new movie called A Hard Day's Night. 

April 19:  I just finished redecorating my room. It looks more Beatle-ized now. 

April 29: No word from Triangle Productions. The tickets are all sold out. We don't know if we will get ours or not. 

May 12:   Sue stayed all night last night, She's washing her hair now. Last night, we called Triangle Productions. They said that tickets and refunds won't be sent out until June 15. That means we'll have to wait until about the 20th to know.

May 24 The Beatles were on The Ed Sullivan Show today, and the Dave Clark Five will be on next week. Forget it. 

June 3:  Ringo was stricken and collapsed at the recording studio today. The doctor said it was tonsillitis. Please, Ringo, don't be sick for your USA tour!

June 7: Today was the day Sue got the reply from Triangle Productions. Were the tickets in the envelope? Yes, they were! Our seats are in the 48th row, the first and second seats. Now, there's three whole months to wait. "Love Me Do" is number one again. 

July 7. Went to see Cleopatra today.  My bird died. It was Ringo's birthday.  

July 26: Sue made our Beatles trip reservations at a little motel in Chicago called the Lake Shore Drive Motel.  It will cost us about $15. My grand total that I have made so far from babysitting and helping grandma to clean her house is $12, so I have to buy film and stuff too.

August 4: The heat is on in Vietnam again.  There's another war threat. Oh, well. 

August 23:  The Beatles were on a repeat of Ed Sullivan today.  School starts in less than a week. But more important is that it's only 11 days until we go to Chicago. I can't believe it!  I wrote two letters to two girls in England today. I hope one of them becomes my pen pal.

September 3:  "And I Love Her" is number one, and "I'll Cry Instead" is number six. One day until blast off!  Karen and I tried to dye our hair today, but it ended up orange. That's right, Orange. I thought I was going to have to go to Chicago like that, but the lady gave us some stuff to fix it. 

September 4: The day is here at last! I worried the whole trip that I had left my ticket at home. I made several trips back to the trunk of the car to be sure that it was there. Sue and I took sack lunches along to eat on the way so that we could save some money. But I hadn't planned on spending so much money on the tollways. Our motel is really a slick place. It has elevators, air conditioning inevery room, television, and a swimming pool.

The first thing we did after unpacking was hit the newspaper stands to catch up on all the Beatle news. Then we walked to the beach.  Lake Shore Drive baffled us. It took forever to cross. Being hicks from the sticks, we didn't know that there was a bridge we could have walked on.

September 5:  The day is gone, and I want it back. I hope I never forget any details of all that happened. This morning, Sue and I were anxious to go and find the amphitheater, so we got in the car and were on our way quickly. Just as we approached the theater, WLS started playing "Twist and  Shout". I knew then that the day was really here. 

The amphitheater is huge! Already, a group of girls was standing in front of the building. When we got there, it was amusing to me. The girls were camped along the side of the building. They were eating sack lunches, and there were lots and lots of newspapers scattered all about. These girls, too, had been reading about the Beatles, I figured. Only noon, and the show didn't start until 830 that night. Sue and I did not want to be left out of anything, so we decided to join them.

 We rushed back to the motel to get dressed. I had planned to spend hours getting ready for this night, but instead, we took 15 minutes. That's a record for us both!  My hair didn't look the best it could, and my nylons had runs in them, but we hurriedly grabbed our cameras, binoculars, and purses and rushed back to the theater. By that time, there were a lot more people there. I had some nice chats with a few policemen, but we sure didn't see eye to eye on my favorite subject-- the Beatles. 

There are a lot of people there whom we met. I thought it was interesting the way various people dressed. Some girls had regular dress-up clothes like Sue and me. Others had cut-offs, Beatles buttons, and ragged gym shoes. There were girls who had on a lot of leather or suede Beatle hats, dark eyes and black socks.

 Sue and I stayed and talked to various girls in line. We noticed that they were carrying Beatles pennants, and we wanted one. Later, a man came along selling them, so we bought one to match our outfits. I got red. Sue got green.

At about four, Sue and I went across the street to eat. We ordered Beatles burgers and played Beatles records on the jukebox. When we got back, we discovered we had lost our place in line, so we had to go to the end. There was a whole crew of adults trying to maintain some order outside the theater. Blockades were set up all around. Only people with tickets were allowed on that side of the street. Every once in a while, the crowd would start screaming. Someone would think she saw a Beatle, and then everyone would start to get hysterical. 

Once, when everyone was screaming, I moved out of line to see what all the excitement was about. Unfortunately, I stepped over the line we had been warned about. Therefore, it was back to the end of the line for me again. At about five, two rescue trucks came. This amused me because there were still three and a half hours until the performance. They were already anticipating emergencies.

 Finally, about an hour later, the doors were opened.  Sue and I had our first look at the amphitheater. It was certainly nothing fancy, but it was gigantic. We bought a really cool Beatles book in the lobby and then went to our seats. We kept walking closer and closer to the front, and couldn't believe how close our seats were to the stage. The time before the show passed quickly. We talked to strangers and even got a few addresses for pen pals. We took pictures of Ringo drums. Those pictures will always be among my most prized possessions, I'm sure. 

September 7: Well, it's over, and I could just cry. This is something I will never forget for the rest of my life. Sue and I wrote the Beatles' signatures on our arms, and we're telling everyone that The Beatles wrote them. Everyone believes us. I don't know when we'll tell them the truth. 

October 19: The world is a horrible mess. On October 15,  Khrushchev resigned. I don't know whether he resigned or whether he was kicked out, but I think it was the latter. Red China has a nuclear bomb now, so that's another worry. Oh, well, why worry? I mean, if we're going to get blown up, I don't guess there's anything I could do about it. 

October 22: Go west! Beat Central!

 October 25:   I cleaned up my room today and went through my Chicago souvenirs. I just can't believe I have seen the Beatles. I just can't believe it. The Ed Sullivan Show is tonight. The Rolling Stones are on.

November 4:   Jerry and the Pacemakers were on  Shindig tonight. Jerry monkeyed at the end.

 December 30: Well, there are only 26 hours left in 1964. I will put this diary away in a secret hiding place. This has truly been the year of the Beatles. Things will change. We will all grow up and old, even the Beatles. What will our futures hold?