George Harrison’s unfinished toast from breakfast in 1963 bought by Beatles fan
A piece of unfinished toast that allegedly originally belonged to George Harrison‘s breakfast plate in 1963 has sold for an undisclosed sum at a private sale.
The buyer is Joseph O’Donnell, who describes himself as a “passionate collector of Beatles and music memorabilia” on his website. Although it’s not been revealed how much O’Donnell paid for the slice of toast, the item was previously sold in 1991 as part of a wider Beatles memorabilia collection for $94,800 at an auction in London. However, a love letter by John Lennon to his ex-wife, Cynthia, was also included in the bundle.
In an exclusive comment provided to Far Out, O’Donnell said: “To me the toast perfectly sums up Beatlemania and the absolute manic obsession with the boys in the 1960s. It shows the lengths people will go to to be close to fame and their idols, so to me it’s priceless – even if it is very, very weird. Despite owning vinyl rarities, autographs, and all the rest, this is by far the most exciting piece in my collection.”
The item reportedly dates back to 1963 when Beatles fan Sue Houghton, who was aged 15 at the time, visited Harrison’s family home and left with a piece of crust from the guitarist’s toast that he couldn’t quite finish eating.
She then preserved the carbohydrate in a scrapbook and wrote next to it, “Piece of George’s breakfast,” along with the date February 8th, 1963. This date is also historic as it was the day before The Beatles performed at The Cavern Club in Liverpool for the final time.
The validity of the item was questioned by Harrison in an interview with Vox Magazine in 1992. “Well, I never authenticated it! That’s totally bullshit,” he said, “I really dislike that. I ate all my toast, I never left any. The madness is the people selling it, and the people actually buying it. It’s Monty Python time: how much would they pay for a piece of sweat? Or a piece of ear wax?”
Despite Harrison’s comments, the piece of toast has taken on a backstory of its own which has led to O’Donnell parting with his money to own this piece of musical history.
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