A menu from the Beatles’ flight back from their legendary filming trip to the Bahamas has sold for more than £7,000 (nearly $9,000)at auction.
The Fab Four jotted their signatures on the front of the menu for an air stewardess as they flew to New York’s JFK airport before returning to London.
The group had traveled to the Bahamas in February 1965 to film scenes for their second feature film HELP! before returning a month later.
The menu, which was specially made for the flight, offered passengers a seafood salad to start, followed by a main course of grilled fillet steak with vegetables.
A Fruit tartlet, cheese and crackers, fresh fruit and a coffee served up for dessert, while a range of cocktails, whiskies, beers, wines and cigarettes were available.
Signed for a stewardess onboard the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) flight dubbed the ‘Beatles Bahamas Special’, it sold for £7,800 on Friday.
Alastair McCrea, from Ewbank’s auctioneers, described the memorabilia as ‘exceptional.’
He said: “When it comes to Rock and Pop memorabilia, there are two markets: The Beatles and everyone else.
“The Beatles follow their own trajectory. Even though a vast wealth of memorabilia, including signatures, survives, values remain high.
“Rarity can play a part too, so when you get something exceptional like these, with the signatures tied to specific Beatles events like the Beatles Bahamas Special, whose history is well recorded, it enhances the attraction.”
Their Boeing 707 was seen off by 1,400 fans on February 26, 1965, at the height of Beatlemania in the UK.
The flight stopped in New York to refuel, but despite requests to pass through US customs, the Beatles’ party did not leave the plane.
When they arrived in the Bahamas, John told a reporter who asked how they entertained themselves onboard: “Well, we got stoned”.
It is thought to be the first time the group admitted to taking drugs.
It was sold on December 14 at Ewbank’s Auctioneers in Guildford, Surrey.
Also under the hammer that day was a BOAC Jet Club log book, signed by John Lennon and Ringo Starr in 1966, which fetched £2,470.
The musicians signed the book for the daughter of a pilot who was taking the duo back to London.
The original script, unit list, cast lists and publicity documents from the 1971 James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever fetched £5,460.
An album of signed letters from political and theatrical figures including Winston Churchill and scientific illustrator Alice Balfour also sold for £3,380 at auction.
Produced in association with SWNS Talker
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