A 17 x 14 inch 1964 print on canvas backing of an original painting of the Beatles by Leo Jansen, sold as a Beatle Buddies Club item by a company co-owned by singer Pat Boone, as approved by Seltaeb Inc in the name of the Beatles' management company, NEMS Enterprises Ltd. B.

There's a story here... see below for details.

The portrait is documented and pictured in Jeff Augsburger et al's Beatles Memorabilia Price Guide 3rd edition as item 321.

Condition: A diagonal crease where the print was folded for storage, with some surface paint loss. Another small area or paint loss near the right border, some areas of cracking to the bottom: as is common, the canvas backing having become brittle with age. The problem areas have been reinforced with pH neutral specialist document repair tape on the back to prevent further deterioration. 

Due to its size and fragility, it will be posted in a tube sandwiched between two slightly larger pieces of paper.

International postage quoted is for USA & Australia. For Europe it would be £15. Other territories also differ. Either ask for a revised invoice if you win or pay the full amount and I'll refund any significant overpayment when I mail the item. If I occasionally forget... remind me!

That story:

The singer Pat Boone was always happy to make a dollar with a sideline business venture. When Beatlemania took off in the USA in 1964, he saw the writing on the wall for his brand of squeaky clean rock'n'roll-lite, and thought to himself, if you can't beat 'em, cash in on 'em any way you can. The previous year, Boone had cashed in on Elvis Presley by recording an album of covers called Pat Boone Sings Guess Who?, posing in a gold suit like Elvis on his 1959 gold records compilation 50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong. He didn't use a photo for the cover, but a lifelike portrait he commissioned from US-based Dutch celebrity portrait artist Leo Jansen. (See pic 8.)

Believing that Jansen portraits of the Beatles would be a sure-fire hit, Boone and his business partner got the artist on board and then sought a license to produce and sell such items from the New York-based Beatles merchandising company, Seltaeb Inc. Seltaeb agreed to the request, supposedly with the blessing of the Beatles management company NEMS Enterprises. 

Jansen painted five portraits: this one of the band, plus another four of the individual members. (Pic 9, taken in 1964, shows a supposedly 'retired' Pat Boone - hence the rocking chair and rug over his knees - with the originals.) The group portrait was reproduced large, on canvas, and sold on its own; the individual portraits were reproduced smaller, on card, and sold as a pack of four. (See pics 10 and 11.)

In order to boost sales, Boone & co sold their 'Full Color Oil Portraits' with a Beatle Buddies Club membership card, inviting members to register their names and addresses for a lottery giving the lucky winners the opportunity to see the Beatles in Las Vegas on their Autumn 1964 tour and meet them at an autograph party afterwards. Trouble is, although Seltaeb had told Pat this would be fine, Brian Epstein had not been informed... and when he found out was not keen. Not least because, being unaware of the Seltaeb-Boone deal NEMS had given Beatles painting rights to two other American artists. Boone had to send a cablegram to Epstein, part grovelling plea, part emotional blackmail, to get the brief autograph meeting arranged.

Because of its tie-in with the band's tour, the Beatle Buddies promotion was a short one: the portaits were only on sale for a couple of months.

Boone & co speedily sold on the remainder to Frito-Lay chips (as in crisps) for a premium promotion. From October 1964, they gave away the smaller portraits inside their (obviously quite large) packets and offered the larger canvas group portrait for sale via an attached coupon. (See pic 13.)

The following year, the leftovers of the large canvas group portait were sold to Ice-o-Derm beauty products for another special offer premium tying in with the release of the movie Help!. (See pic 14.)

Twenty years later, the Liverpool Beatles exhibition Beatle City bought what were suposedly the last 500 copies, numbered them, and sold them as a limited special edition from their shop between 1984 and 1985. (See my other items for an example of one of these numbered prints in better condition than this one, A.) They came with a letter of authorisation (see pic 14) with the Beatle City logo letter heading and signed by P Rafferty on behalf of Merchandising Manager Phil Taylor. It reads:

'Beatle City Limited certify that the limited edition "The Beatles"  lithograph is number 212 of only 500 originally commissioned in February 1964, by CBS Television to commemorate the Beatles first visit to New York to appear on the Ed Sullivan Show. Their plan was to give them as souvenirs of the visit to major advertisers. Brian epstein and the Beatles objected and the prints were never issued. The entire edition was acquired recently in New York by Beatle City. Beatle City give assurance that once this limited edition is sold no other such limited edition will be produced.'

Which is great, right? Except, obviously, the CBS stuff isn't true... though it's possible it was the yarn Beatle City were told when they bought the pictures. 

(Pics 8-14 are included for information only and are not part of this auction.)

I try to list items of Beatles memorabilia / merchandise every week or two, so if you're a collector, why not add me to your saved sellers list? 

I will combine postage where possible.