Today at the Liverpool Beatles Museum we’re celebrating John Lennon’s birthday!
At the museum we tell the story of the Beatles through items from the boys’ lives, and we thought today would be a good day to take a closer look at some of the best John items we currently have on display in the museum.
John Lennon’s ‘How I Won the War’ costume
In 1966 the boys took time to explore other projects, and John took up the chance to star in Richard Lester’s new project, a dark comedy about the Second World War. John starred as Private Gripweed, a supporting role that allowed him to explore life without the Beatles for the first time.
Despite this, John still spent time working on music for the Beatles, writing the lyrics to the iconic Strawberry Fields Forever between takes.
John’s famous glasses, circa 1967
These glasses were owned and worn by John Lennon from raound 1967 onward.
John had worn glasses as part of his costume during his time playing Private Gripweed in ‘How I Won the War’, which he had filmed in 1966. John found that the glasses suited him, and so he decided to wear his own glasses full time, something which he’d been avoiding during the Beatlemania years.
Once John began to wear the round style of glasses the look became iconic and is still today a fashion trend influenced by John.
John Lennon’s Sgt Pepper Medals
A number of medals were borrowed from Mona Best and taken to London for the Sgt Pepper photo shoot.
These medals were worn by John Lennon during the cover shoot for Sgt Pepper, and can even be seen in some of the outtakes from the sessions!
John Lennon’s Watch
John Lennon wore this watch during the early days of the Beatles, while they were playing in the Casbah Coffee Club, the Cavern and Hamburg. John wore this watch until it broke – it really did see a lot of the Beatle’s early journey!
John and Yoko’s “War is Over” postcard to Prime Minister Harold Wilson
During their campaign for peace in the late 60s and early 70s, John and Yoko sent a hand signed postcard to then Prime Minister Harold Wilson, with John writing “with love to the Wilsons from the Lennons, John Lennon and Yoko Ono”.
Harold Wilson simply wrote “No” on it – it seems he wasn’t too impressed by John and Yoko’s campaign!
Happy Birthday John, we’re proud to display your items here at the museum, especially on occasions like today!