Stowe School

 

The Stowe tuckshop girls

 

The Beatles at Stowe is the gift that keeps on giving in 2023!   Much of it is thanks to Samira Ahmed, my favorite new Beatles historian.   She has done a report on the two girls that met the Beatles and had a meal with them at the tuckshop, and I can't wait to hear it!    She shared the color photo and the autographs on Twitter along with this information:

"It wasn’t us screaming,” They think it might have been some of the boys. The wonderful Stowe tuckshop girls Maggie & Jan. Not enough places so had to take turns to sit at the table. With their scrapbook &a copy of their father’s tape made over dinner with the Beatles

Now I can't wait to learn more about these fans, Maggie and Jan! They took turns sitting at the table with The Beatles, but it looks like they got a seat next to Paul to share. And those autographs are great! This is the stuff I live for, you know?

Pre-Beatlemania

Before Beatlemania hit really hard, the guys played at smaller venues to non-screaming crowds. On April 4, 1963 they played at a school that appears from this photo to be all boys, in Stowe. After the show these well-dressed, seemingly polite young men calmly waiting to receive an autograph from each member of the band (I hope their mother's didn't throw those slips of paper away!). A VERY different scene than what the Beatles will begin to see in just a few months after this photo was taken.