Rare signed Fab Four cartoon up for auction

Previously unseen caricatures from Beatles’ famous Caird Hall gig in 1963 appear in online sale

Excitement is building around a “spinetingling” piece of Beatlemania from the Fab Four’s sensational 1963 show on the stage of Dundee’s Caird Hall.

Rare autographed caricatures of John, Paul, George and Ringo have emerged in an online auction and bidding has rocketed up the money charts to sit at £5,500 – with hopes the final price might hit five-figures when the hammer comes down in just under a fortnight.

The online auction’s star lot is one of 20 caricature portraits of the Liverpool group which were believed to have been offered as prizes in a competition run by the People’s Journal for the band’s Caird Hall gig on October 7 1963.

The DC Thomson artist who penned the piece is pictured in a photograph with the Fab Four, and the rare items also include a shot of Paul McCartney putting his signature to one of the pieces.

Dan Wade, the manager of Paul Fraser Collectibles who are auctioning the lot through the Invaluable website, described the piece as “Beatles gold”.

“This is spine-tingling Beatles memorabilia,” he said. “It’s one of the best Beatles autographs I’ve handled.

“The signatures are huge. The caricature smacks you between the eyes. It’s got photo provenance. And the date – October 1963 – means the band signed this in the midst of Beatlemania – that’s so important for collectors.

“The Beatles only signed 20 of these, far less will have survived. I wonder if any are lurking in Dundee lofts?” Dan added. He also hopes the global interest in the item and its Courier Country connection will unearth the story of the artist.

The 1963 gig was one of two Dundee visits by the band in their heyday, they returned a year later at the same venue.

Also on the bill that night were Johnny Hudson and the Hi Four, Malcolm Clarke and the Crestas, the Caravelles and Tommy Dene and the Tremors.

The Beatles only signed 20 of these, far less will have survived. I wonder if any are lurking in Dundee lofts? DAN WADE

Left: The Beatles with the caricatures produced by a DC Thomson artist in Dundee in 1963; top: the Fab Four’s signatures; and Paul signs his name, above.