World's Oldest Beatles Poster - Jan. 25, 1961

Before Ringo Joined The Group...

Two Full Years Before The Ed Sullivan Triumph...

Their First Billing As The Beatles (and not The Silver Beatles).....

         Jan. 25, 1961

THIS IS A RARE SECOND PRINTING THAT WAS PAINSTAKINGLY PRODUCED IN NOVEMBER 1976 BY THE SAME PRINTER WHO MADE THE ORIGINAL 1961 POSTER, USING THE SAME PLATES, EXACT SAME GRADE OF NEWSPRINT, AND ON THE SAME TYPE OF PRESS.

IT IS NOT A REPRINT, OR A REPRODUCTION. IT IS A GENUINE SECOND PRINTING THAT COMES WITH A CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY.

I'LL TRY AND NOT BECOME EMOTIONAL AS I EXPLAIN.

BUT IF I SEE ONE MORE MEDIA REPORT WITH THE PHRASE IT WAS 40 YEARS AGO TODAY I MIGHT HAVE TO SCREAM.

In the 1970s I was working for the national tabloid The Globe ( You all know it - it's like the National Enquirer but the stuff in it isn't as true).

A co-worker in the layout department, David Hughes, was a Liverpudlian who had worked as a printer, and saved the original plates used to make the 1961 original. Together we sought out the exact same newsprint, inks and printing press to duplicate the first printing.

We printed 4,400 posters to mirror the original press-run, numbnered and signed them.............and sort of forgot about them. Back in 1976 not many people cared about the Fab Four, and no one was interested in a rare poster of the Beatles with no photo on it.

In the interim, my Mom would sneak bundles of the newsprint memorabilia out for the weekly garbage pick up. One woman's clutter is another man's rare Beatles item.

A few dozen were sold at a Rock trade show in Toronto Canada in 1978, but more importantly, several hundred were stolen from the convention hall. Many of these ended up in Europe, including Weymouth, England with the 1976 copyright line shorn off - - - being sold as original 1961 prints.

From time to time, these even show up on ebay as originals, where the bidding zooms up to $6,000 or more in a few days. However, you can't do that because the VeRO program on eBay will shut you down as soon as they can.

Beatle experts know, and eBayers know, my certified second printing of The World's Oldest Beatles Poster in at least 27" long - even if you shave off the copyright line, whereas the 1961 LIverpool poster has slightly smaller dimensions. Most telling is the "J" in January. On our authorized version, the J is broken due to a printing plate that was broken in transport, and only half the J is visible. On the real McCoy the J is intact.

If you are lucky enough to win this extremely limited printing, numbered and signed with COA, gem of early Beatlemania, it comes folded in four JUST LIKE THE ORIGINAL PRESSRUN!

Shipping is $4.

See poster featured in the Beatles Chronicles, a book that documents their career day by day.