A piece of toast that was left behind by George Harrison in 1962 has been sold.
The crust of the bread left over by the late Beatles legend was saved by a fan named Sue Houghton, who was 15-years-old at the time. According to the Daily Express, she preserved the bread on a scrapbook page alongside the caption: “Piece of George’s breakfast 2-8-63.”
The date noted indicates that the bread was from around the time that the Fab Four made their return to Liverpool after seven weeks of touring.
As reported by the New York Post, the fan had taken the remains from Harrison’s plate after befriending his family and making a visit to their home. Her scrapbook also contained other memorabilia from Harrison, including fluff from under his bed and thread from his jeans.
The bread was originally sold in 1992 when Houghton auctioned off her scrapbook for $1,600 (£1,265) to fund home repairs. Now it has been reported that the leftover piece of bread has changed hands again.
It has been bought by memorabilia collector Joseph O’Donnell, although the price he paid has not been publicly disclosed. He did, however, say that it has been preserved by being framed in UV-protected glass of museum standard.
“It’s a brilliant story that is both bizarre, historical and a story I’ll continue telling friends, memorabilia collectors and fellow Beatles fans,” he told Daily Express.
NY Post also highlights that word of the swiped piece of toast has made its way over to members of The Beatles, and has become an inside joke to the members.
In 1992 for instance, Harrison jokingly claimed that the toast couldn’t have belonged to him in an interview with Vox, saying: “I ate all my toast! I never left any!”
In 1999, Paul McCartney also joined in on the joke telling Der Speigel that his children would tease him about it when he didn’t finish his own breakfast. He said that they would exaggerate and say that the toast sold for $40,000: “‘Dad, you don’t have to finish the bread roll’ [they’d say] or ‘Do you really want half an egg? Let’s clear the table’.”
Harrison died in November 2001 following a battle with lung cancer. He was aged 58.
In other Beatles news, Paul McCartney recently announced details of a new book titled Wings: The Story Of A Band On The Run. It is described as “a rousing, stereophonic celebration of the songs, collaborations and performances that would shape the soundtrack of the late 20th century”, and set to contain countless previously-unseen photographs.
Since then, he has teased that he hopes to finish a new solo album this year, played three surprise intimate gigs in New York City and reunited with Ringo Starr while at his final ‘Got Back’ tour date in London last year.
The post Loaf Me Do: George Harrison’s leftover piece of toast from 1962 sold appeared first on NME.