Fab Four seaside snaps have attracted a mystery buyer at an auction in Lincoln this week, as the rare pictures of The Beatles from the sixties have been sold for a figure more than £3,000. The benefactor of the tidy sum is believed to have been a travelling salesman who captured the images as the iconic band members were filming their “Magical Mystery Tour” in Cornwall in 1967.
The fan had kept the 15 pictures taken at the Atlantic Hotel in Newquay for more than 50 years, in addition to a letter signed by three of the band’s illustrious line-up. The opportunity to reminisce on such a cherished time in The Beatles’ careers clearly proved to be too good to pass up on, as an anonymous Scottish bidder stumped up around £3,300 for the collection once fees had been added on.
A pleasant surprise for the auction house
Reflecting on the sale, Daryll Kirk of Unique Auctions seemed pleasantly surprised as he said that it seems “amazing that unseen items relating to The Beatles are still out there.” Unique Auctions may be familiar to avid fans of the popular antique-related shows on BBC television, as they hosted the sales on a special Celebrity Antiques Road Trip episode back in 2013.
Captured the swinging sixties look
Some of the pictures typified the swinging sixties lifestyle, as one image showed George Harrison chatting away with two women wearing revealing bikinis against an appealing clear blue sea background. Paul McCartney was snapped as he walked on one of Newquay’s picturesque beaches - which attract many holidaymakers to Cornwall each summer – while a picture of John Lennon shows him sporting a tidy look of a shirt, tie and some snazzy braces.
Magical Mystery Tour film and album
“Magical Mystery Tour” was the title of not only a typically eccentric and slightly surreal Film featuring John, Paul, George and Ringo Starr, but also a double EP soundtrack in the UK (and an LP in the United States) produced by their trusted collaborator George Martin. The album enjoyed critical and commercial success, including a Grammy nomination in the States, and included such classic tracks as “I Am the Walrus” and “The Fool on the Hill”.
The 52-minute made-for-television comedy film originally aired on BBC1 on Boxing Day, 1967 but unlike the album did not receive critical acclaim at the time. Its basic storyline focussed on Mr Richard Starkey (aka ‘Ringo’) and his recently widowed Aunt Jessie (Jessie Robins), with the film’s title echoing the premise of a group of people on a British mystery tour on a coach.
A magical element was introduced to proceedings throughout the film, as magicians periodically popped up that were portrayed by Beatles’ band members themselves (plus the band’s road manager), causing strange events to happen.