LaFont  'St. Emilion'  Vintage 1964 "Grand Vin" Bordeaux Wine Bottle
AUTOGRAPHED ON THE LABEL BY THE BEATLES

SIGNED DURING BACKSTAGE CELEBRATION AT HISTORIC "THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW"
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1964
CBS TELEVISION STUDIO NO. 50, 1697 BROADWAY AT 53RD STREET, NEW YORK CITY.
 

ON SUNDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 9, 1964, THE BEATLES PERFORMED ON "THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW" BEFORE A THEN-RECORD AMERICAN TELEVISION AUDIENCE OF OVER 73 MILLION PEOPLE. CBS RECEIVED OVER 50,000 REQUESTS FOR TICKETS TO THE SHOW. ONLY A LUCKY 1,500 GOT TO SEE THEIR HEROES IN PERSON. FOR MANY WHO WATCHED THE EVENT, THE SOUND AND IMAGES OF THE GROUP'S PERFORMANCE WAS FOREVER EMBEDDED IN THEIR MINDS, ALONG WITH MEMORIES OF WHERE THEY WERE WHEN PRESIDENT KENNEDY WAS ASSASSINATED AND WHEN MAN FIRST WALKED ON THE MOON. FEBRUARY 9, 1964. THIS WAS THE DAY THE BEATLES AND ALL OF AMERICA HAD BEEN WAITING FOR. IT WAS INDEED "THE BIG TIME" . . . THE BEATLES HAD MADE IT TO THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW - AND WOULD BE TELECAST LIVE FROM COAST TO COAST WITH AMERICA'S FAVORITE HOST.

THE BEATLES PERFORMED FIVE SONGS, THREE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SHOW, 'ALL MY LOVING', 'TILL THERE WAS YOU', AND "SHE LOVES YOU', AND TWO IN THE SECOND-HALF IN A DIFFERENT STAGE SETTING, 'I SAW HER STANDING THERE' AND 'i WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND'.  IT WAS A DAUNTING YET REMARKABLY CONFIDENT PERFORMANCE. APART FROM THE BEATLES, THIS HISTORIC EDITION OF "THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW" ALSO FEATURED MAGICIAN FRED KAPS (TAPED PERFORMANCE TO ALLOW TIME FOR AN EXTENSIVE SET CHANGE AFTER THE BEATLES FIRST SEGMENT), THE CAST OF THE BROADWAY SHOW "OLIVER !" LED BY SINGER GEORGIA BROWN AND FUTURE MEMBER OF THE MONKEES, DAVY JONES. ALSO, IMPRESSIONIST FRANK GORSHIN, SINGER AND BANJOIST TESSIE O'SHEA, THE COMEDY TEAM OF McCALL AND BRILL, And finally, wells AND the four fays, a novelty acrobatics act.

AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE SHOW, THE GROUP ATTENDED A SHORT BACKSTAGE CELEBRATION WHICH INCLUDED MOST OF THE ACTS WHO HAD APPEARED THAT EVENING. IT WAS AT THIS CELEBRATION, WHERE THIS MOST prestigious piece of beatles SIGNED memorabilia emanates - and fab 4 collectibles is most proud to have acquired. the label on this half bottlE (known as a "split" size) which contained a YOUNG 1964 vintage french bordeaux, LaFont 'St. Emilion', "Grand Vin" , was autographed by the beatles for one of the acts, who had also made their television debut on "the ed sullivan show" that night.

THiS PARTICULAR LEVEL OF THE 1964 VINTAGE OF BORDEAUX, WAS THE TYPE OF BORDEAUX GRAPE THAT WAS MARKETED AND BOTTLED FOR IMMEDIATE CONSUMPTION. IT WAS RELEASED TO THE PUBLIC SHORTLY FOLLOWING ITS HARVEST AND WAS BOTTLED AT THE END OF 1963 AND BEGINNING OF 1964. THE ORIGINAL CORK WAS RE-INSERTED AND REMAINS IN THE BOTTLE TO THIS DAY. THE BOTTLE MEASURES 9½" TALL BY 3" WIDE.

THE BEATLES HAVE SIGNED THE LABEL IN MATCHING, BOLD, BLACK BALLPOINT, WITH PAUL ADDING 'CONGRATULATIONS' ABOVE HIS SIGNATURE -  A KIND SENTIMENT BEING SENT FROM THE BEATLES TO THE ENTERTAINER WHO HAD ALSO MADE THEIR TELEVISION DEBUT.

THE CONDITION OF THIS MAJESTIC PIECE IS IN EXCELLENT CONDITION, WITH VERY MINIMAL WEAR TO THE LABEL, AS DEPICTED IN OUR IMAGES. OUR PHOTOS DO NOT DEPICT THE TRUE AND LASTING BEAUTY OF THEM. IN PERSON, THEY ARE MAJESTIC. ONLY MINOR ISSUES ARE A SMALL TEAR IN THE UPPER RIGHT CORNER OF THE LABEL, 3 SMALL PAPER CHIPS ALONG THE TOP EDGE OF THE LABEL, AND A TINY AREA OF PAPER LOSS JUST BELOW THE SIGNATURE OF JOHN LENNON. THE SIGNATURES ARE NOT AFFECTED AT ALL. THERE ARE NO CRACKS OR CHIPS TO THE BOTTLE ITSELF.

ACCOMPANIED BY LETTER OF AUTHENTICITY FROM FRANK CAIAZZO.  MR. CAIAZZO is considered to be the world's leading authority on Beatles signed and handwritten material. HIS articles have appeared IN SEVERAL books and magazines including "Autograph Collector" and "Beatlology". HE has served as consultant to several major auction houses including Sotheby's New York and London, Christie's, Bonhams, AND TO numerous smaller auction companies and autograph dealers worldwide. MR. CAIAZZO'S LETTER OF AUTHENTICITY HAS BEEN THE GOLD STANDARD IN THE BEATLES AUTOGRAPH COLLECTING COMMUNITY FOR OVER 30 YEARS.

IN HIS LETTER, MR. CAIAZZO STATES "WINE BOTTLES SIGNED BY THE BEATLES ARE VERY RARE, WITH ONLY ONE OTHER SURFACING TO DATE, AND THE FACT THAT THIS ONE  WAS SIGNED ON WHAT IS ARGUABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT NIGHT IN ROCK & ROLL HISTORY, BY THE BAND WHO MADE THAT NIGHT SO HISTORIC, MAKES THIS A VERY SPECIAL BEATLES COLLECTIBLE INDEED."