One-of-a-kind posters from the ‘birth of Beatlemania’ go on display in Liverpool

The Liverpool Beatles Museum is the only place in the world where you can see the historic posters.
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Posters marking the "birth of Beatlemania" have been put on display in the city thanks to the band’s original drummer Pete Best.

The posters were prepared by friend and road manager of The Beatles Neil Aspinall in November 1960 when the band came back from Germany.

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There are three advertisements, one of which reads: ‘Fabulous Beatles Direct from Hamburg’.

The billboards were displayed in the Casbah, owned by Pete’s mother Mona, ahead of the band’s first performance there on December 19.

Pete, 80, said the band, which then also included Stuart Sutcliffe, was unknown in Liverpool and many of the crowd expected them to be German.

He said: “When it turned out we were five Liverpool lads, we took the Casbah by storm.”

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The posters are now on display at the Liverpool Beatles Museum, which is owned by Pete’s brother Roag.

Original guitars and drums from the band's Hamburg days, John Lennon Sgt Pepper medals, the white cello from Magical Mystery Tour and Paul McCartney's bass amp are just a few of the things you can find at the museum.

‘We have to give thanks to Pete for this one’

Roag Best at the Liverpool Beatles MuseumRoag Best at the Liverpool Beatles Museum
Roag Best at the Liverpool Beatles Museum

Roag says: “When the posters were made, Pete took one for his scrapbook and he decided a couple of months ago to release them and give them to the museum, so they're now on display here.

“It's the only place in the world where you're going to see these posters which really show the lead up to Beatlemania."

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One of the posters uses the phrase "The Beatles Are Coming", which was used again when the band travelled to America.

Roag says there'll be a new never-before-seen display in the museum on Mathew street in April, but for now, he's keeping tight-lipped about what that will be.

“At this point there’s over a thousand items in the museum, it is only about 10% of the collection and we’re still moving items in all the time,” he says.

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