The Beatles road manager Neil Aspinall signed a good number of these cards while the band was on tour in late 1963 and throughout 1964. The vast majority of these cards were signed by the fan club secretaries and sent through the mail to members. In September of 1963, The Official Beatles Fan Club produced a new photocard which contained one of the classic Dezo Hoffmann "seated collarless suit poses" from their July photo session. Both cards lent themselves to being signed on the front, next to the photo of The Beatles because there was more light area to the right of their photo. Parlophone's second and final issue card was introduced in March of 1963 and came in two sizes: 5 3/4" X 3 5/8" and 7 1/2" X 5 1/2". Almost all of these cards were signed on the reverse, because there was very little light area on the front of the cards for their signatures. In October of 1962, when The Beatles released their first single "Love Me Do", their new record company, Parlophone Records produced a small quantity of promotional photocards in 2 formats - a horizontal and a vertical, both with pictures being shot by Dezo Hoffman while The Beatles were in the studio. Needless to say, there are very few in existence as he was only with the group for a short while afterwards.
The earliest promotional photocards were issued when Pete Best was still in the band.
Now they are extremely rare and very desirable, as few have actually survived intact.
The Beatles Autographs - Presented by Frank Caiazzo - Promotional CardsĬards containing photographs of The Beatles which were made by NEMS Enterprises, Parlophone Records or The Beatles themselves were often signed by the four members of the group and given away in small quantities.