Vintage glossy 3.5 x 3.5 snapshot photo of a television screen showing images of John Lennon and Yoko Ono during an interview, signed on the reverse in blue ballpoint, “John Lennon” and “Yoko Ono,” with Lennon adding small facial sketches of himself and his wife. The consignor notes that the autographs were obtained during Lennon and Ono’s Bed In For Peace, which took place at the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel in Amsterdam, Holland, between March 25 and 31, 1969. In very good to fine condition, with reduced ink flow to Lennon's signature and sketches, and a diagonal crease and tape stains to the lower half. Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Tracks.
On March 20, 1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono married in Gibraltar and then traveled to Paris to honeymoon for a few days. The couple then continued on to Amsterdam in Lennon’s white Rolls-Royce to set up residency on the ninth floor of the Amsterdam Hilton hotel in room 902, the Presidential Suite, and to host the now-famous ‘Bed-In For Peace’ protest. These historic events would be immortalized by the Beatles in their No. 1 Single ‘The Ballad of John and Yoko,’ which contained the lyrics: ‘Drove from Paris to the Amsterdam Hilton / Talking in our beds for a week / The newspapers said, ‘Say what you doing in bed?’ / I said, ‘We're only trying to get us some peace.’
After learning about the event, a 16-year-old Dutch Beatles fan named Constance Vrijdaghs decided to head straight to the Amsterdam Hilton hotel on the afternoon of March 26, 1969. Upon her arrival, she struck up a conversation with two girls and a boy who were peering up at the ‘Hair Peace’ and ‘Bed Peace’ signs being displayed in the windows of John and Yoko’s suite. Constance then asked if they had been upstairs, to which they replied ‘No.’
Undeterred, Constance decided she would try to meet her idol. Once inside the hotel, Constance informed the doorman that she was heading to the bar for a coffee and, as soon as she passed him, she ran for the doors of the elevator, jumped in and pressed the ninth floor. Unfortunately for Constance, the doors did not close quickly enough, and she was apprehended by a porter. Constance quickly pulled out her Dutch Beatles Fan Club membership card and stated, ‘I am from the Dutch Beatles Fan Club, and I would like to congratulate John and Yoko on their marriage, and I am here to interview them.’ The porter, however, was skeptical and removed her from the elevator. Constance was then asked to wait in the lobby while the porter made a call to Lennon’s suite.
Approximately 20 minutes later, two men from Bovema, the Beatles’ record company in Holland, came and met Constance and escorted her up to room 902 on the ninth floor. She was told she would be allowed five minutes inside the room. Upon her arrival, the door opened, and she was greeted by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, who were sitting on a bed in their pajamas. Constance congratulated the couple on their recent marriage, and then John ushered her over to sit on the edge of the bed. While chatting with the couple, Constance requested that they sign the offered photograph.
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