Letter of Provenance from Kay Spence:

SI6. Breakfast Menu From The Salutation Hotel In Perth, Scotland Signed By All Four Beatles During Their 1963 Scottish Tour

On Saturday, October 5, 1963, The Beatles embarked on a three-night mini-tour of Scotland beginning with a show at the Concert Hall in Glasgow. The following night, Sunday, October 6th, they would play two shows for 3,000 fans at Carlton Theatre in Kirkcaldy before concluding the tour on Monday the 7th with a performance at Caird Hall in Dundee. The dates were promoted by Albert Boncini, who had made an exclusive agreement with Beatles manager Brian Epstein to present their concerts in Scotland.

While they stayed at Glasgow's Central Station Hotel the first night, they changed accommodations for the second night, choosing the oldest established hotel in Scotland -- the historic Salutation Hotel in Perth. Geographically speaking, this was a logical choice as Perth was centrally located between the final two tour cities of Kirkcaldy and Dundee. On the morning of the Monday, October 7th, they had breakfast at the Salutation, playing their final show that evening in Dundee, some 12 miles away.

Offered here for your consideration is a menu from the Salutation Hotel, boldly signed in blue ballpoint pen on the reverse side by all four Beatles at breakfast that morning. As an additional, very desirable touch, George Harrison has written "The Beatles" at the top above the four signatures. This set was obtained in person by the father of a young female fan who related the story decades later:

My father and uncle were on a business trip to Glasgow and were staying overnight in the Salutation Hotel, Perth. On their arrival at the hotel, they were met by hundreds of screaming girls and knowing that this reception could not be for them, assumed someone famous was staying there, too.

Next morning at breakfast, my father approached the 'group of young men' at the next table and said "My daughter has pictures of you on her bedroom wall, you're The Spiders or something and we've not slept a wink all night with the din outside." John Lennon replied politely and said "Actually, sir, we're The Beatles and one day everyone in the world would have heard of us." Paul McCartney apologised for my father's sleepless night and prompted the others to sign the back of the breakfast menu to give to me as I was such a big fan.

As a teenager in the 60's, I was the envy of my mates and my Dad had a story to tell for many years."

The woman, Kay Spence, goes on to write that she kept these autographs safely for nearly 50 years. Indeed, the menu card (which measures 4” x 6”) has been nicely preserved, though it does bear a horizontal fold line across the middle, and small tears at either end of the fold, which do not affect the signatures in any way. This is a textbook set of Beatles autographs, with each signature unhurried and complete with every letter present.  John Lennon's signature in particular is seldom as thorough as this one. It would have been nearly impossible for them all to have signed any better on that day.

Lennon was quite prophetic when he told Kay's father that "one day everyone in the world would have heard of us". A mere 6 days after this menu was signed, The Beatles made their famous televised appearance on "Sunday Night At The London Palladium", which was the equivalent of the Ed Sullivan Show in Great Britain. It was this performance that signaled the start of a national frenzy and the first use of the term "Beatlemania". Within four months, they would, as John predicted, become a household name around the world.

This is your opportunity to own a magnificent set of Beatles signatures signed for a fan on the brink of their global fame……$11,000
 

^ Return To Top ^