Louisa's treasures

 

On October 10, 1964, a 15-year-old Beatles fan, Louisa Walne, went to a Beatles concert.  That lucky girl met everyone who performed at that concert: Mary Wells, Tommy Quickly, Garry Marsden, John, Paul, George, and Ringo (plus Mal Evans).  She also obtained part of the pic Paul McCartney used and a match used by George Harrison.   She kept these treasures in her autograph book and treasured them.  Sadly, Louisa passed away due to a blood clot at the young age of 24.   Her husband of 6 months kept the book all of these years, not just because he's a big Beatles fan but because it belonged to his deceased wife and was something she loved.  However, the widower feels that it is now time to pass this amazing book to someone else who will cherish it, and it is going up for auction later this month.  

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?

Backstage at the Beatles Christmas Show

 

As we start 2023, I am wanting to Get Back to the original idea of this site, which is to focus on people that have met the Beatles and not just a place to share random photos (although I won't stop doing that either).   I feel like I have been lazy and have gotten farther from my original intent for MTBFR that I wanted and so no time is better than the start of a new year to get back on track.  

These Beatles signatures are currently in an auction  and I thought the story that went along with them was interesting.   

I got them after the Beatles’ performance at the Odeon Hammersmith in January 1965. I was taken by my aunt (the former ballerina Moira Shearer, of 'Red Shoes' fame) and uncle, the writer and broadcaster Ludovic Kennedy. They had met Paul McCartney at a Christmas party. When they told him they were coming to the concert with two daughters and two nephews (me and my younger brother), he invited us all backstage afterwards. I was 13 years and eight months and wore a shirt with a tab collar which was then all the rage! I shall never forget it. The dressing room was small and cramped. John was sitting on the floor deep in conversation with a man he introduced as ‘my intellectual friend – he’s a teacher’. George and Ringo sat silently smoking. I noticed the washbasin was full of cigarette butts. Paul was the friendliest. He stood chatting to Moira and Ludovic while we passed our autograph books around. I remember very little of the music because of the screaming. Years ago I tore the Beatles’ signatures out of my autograph book and threw the rest away, perhaps unwisely, but there was nothing else of much importance.'

The mystery of the tablecloth has been solved!

 In 2016, I wrote about the tablecloth The Beatles doodled on while backstage in San Francisco in 1966.  You can read that story here.  

Quick recap:  The caterers, Simpson's Catering, brought The Beatles and their crew their food while they were backstage before the San Francisco show and also supplied the tablecloth for the table.   The Beatles used the colorful Japanese pen gifted to them by fans to draw doodles on the tablecloth after the meal.   Joan Baez was also there, and she drew on the tablecloth.   Afterward, Simpson's Catering took their tablecloth back with them, now adorned by Beatle art and autographs.  It was put on display in the shop's front window, and many fans stopped by to see it and take photos of it.   Then six days after the concert, someone broke the large window and took the tablecloth.    

That is all we knew about this piece of Beatles artwork.   It has been missing since 1966.   Although I do have to say that someone in the comments section of the article from 2016 someone came forward and said that the guy who originally stole the tablecloth in 1966 gave it to his uncle, who had no idea it was stolen until the 1980s.    Whoever had the tablecloth gave it back to the son of the caterer in 2020, and now he is selling the tablecloth through Bonhams auctions.  

You can bid on the famous tablecloth here.    It only has one day left!

Thanks to this auction, we can see the artwork up close. 

This is the biggest section that is made by a Beatle.   John Lennon drew all of the yellow areas.  Paul signed his name in bubble letters and put an arrow.  

These drawings were drawn by Joan.   Who do you think she was doodling?

George and Ringo were seen drawing at the table.  But when I looked closer, I realized that they had doodled on paper and not actually on the tablecloth.   What a shame!   I am sure those scraps of paper are long gone.   The caterer asked George and Ringo to autograph the tablecloth. 

This photograph by Marilyn Doerflers really shows some of the art -- notice John's yellow drawing especially?

I am glad that this mystery has been solved and that the tablecloth has survived all these years.  I find it a bit disappointing that there isn't more artwork on it (such as the one they did in Japan the same year), but original John Lennon art is always awesome. 

The Beatles and their solo years (A Trip down Memory Lane): A Book review

The book The Beatles and Their Solo Years:  A Trip down memory lane by Tom Fontaine is a very nice hardcover book with color photos inside.    The book features the collection of Beatles autographs Tom Fontaine has bought over the years.   He does not own all of them anymore, but took photographs of all of the autographs and put them all together in this book. 

The layout of the book is great.  It starts with Beatles autographs as a group in chronological order then moves onto a section for each solo Beatle, also in order.    The photographs are large enough to see in detail the autographs and anything else the Beatles wrote to the fans.

My favorite entries are the ones that include the fan's story on how the autograph was originally obtained.  I think the stories are more valuable than the autograph itself. 

Most of the signatures Fontaine purchased from auction houses, but some of them he got in person.  Ringo signed for him, and so did Paul.

There is a short section in the middle of the book about Tom's memories of Beatlefest.   This is a nice telling of his involvement in the Fest and is a nice trip down memory lane for those of us who regularly attend these events.  He has photographs of many of the guests over the years.    I think this section might be morning to readers who aren't familiar with the Fest and do not have an interest in it.

Overall I like this book.  It is a good reference if you are looking to check on the authenticity of a Beatles autograph.   It has great examples of signatures from all different time periods.    Not that I would recommend only relying on this book, but I think it is a great place to start for autograph authenticity.    It is also a good reference book to have on hand in general because of the stories included by fans. 

This isn't a must-have for all fans, but it is a nice book to have on your shelf, especially for anyone who has an interest in Beatles autographs.

The link below is the affiliate link to Amazon where you can purchase this book.   I get a small percentage of anything purchased through this link.  Money made from the Amazon Afflication is used to pay the annual fee to keep this site online.  Thank you for your support.  Sara

https://amzn.to/49VEkMK

Train to Hamburg

The Beatles boarded the train at Essen for their return to Hamburg at midnight on June 26, 1966.   The trip wasn't too long and so the guys did not sleep during the ride.    Paul was interviewed and said this about returning to Hamburg, "I want to see Hamburg emerge from the night.  Returning to Hamburg is a nice feeling.   The time in Hamburg was cruel.  I don't want to see our old flat or the Star-Club right now.  That is all behind us. "

I had this photo listed in my files as "going to Hamburg" but I am not sure. 

Signed menu of the meal the guys had prepared for them during the ride. 

The Hurricanes

I wish I could have seen Rory Storm and the Hurricanes perform.   I understand that they put on one heck of a show.    There is a mark in the Cashbah ceiling from where Rory once hit his head really hard from jumping around all of the time.   Ringo is in this photo, but you can only see his drums and not him---but he did autograph the back of the photo along with the other members of the band.

Mom and Dad Harrison

Large Beatle heads

The inside door of the Beatles' TWA Flight 703 had  large cartoon-like drawings of the Beatles' heads without faces.      I am not sure what purpose they provided, but they looked neat on the inside of the cabin door.    Each Beatle signed "his head" and they became part of Dick Clark's collection of Rock n Roll memorabilia.  After Clark's death, his entire collection, including the Beatles' heads, were auctioned off and somebody somewhere now has this neat set of autographs.

You can tell from this photo that they had been signed

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Paul Mccartney 1993 meeting

Desperate times

This item is currently up for bid on ebay.     The guy that worked as the make-up person for the Ed Sullivan show wanted to get the Beatles autograph, but obviously came unprepared, as all he could find for the guys to sign is the back of a photo of his son that was in his wallet!  

Help! autographs

From Tracks

At the party after the premiere of Help! some people did obtain autographs of the Beatles.   The Beatles signed a lot of programs from the film and autograph books.    I think one girl had her entire autograph book filled with signatures of people from the party (see photo).  

French Autograph collection

A young man named Paul Bogaert was an autograph collector in France in the 1960's and he opened up his autograph book to make a blog about the subject.     He was able to get the Beatles' and Brian Epstein's autographs 50 years ago.