Offered is a John Lennon owned, and likely worn, khaki colored military tunic acquired from his personal wardrobe at his apartment on West 72nd Street in New York in 1977. Lennon had a strong predilection towards the military tunic and other styles of army jackets. While the offered military surplus jacket was not stage-used by Lennon, it certainly could have been the inspiration for the stage jackets worn during The Beatles 1965 U.S. Tour that are so, so similar in construction, fabric, color and design, down to the large black buttons and sleeve stitching. They wore those jackets as early as April 1965 on the British show Top of the Pops, as well.
The jacket was orignally acquired by a Salvation Army employee in 1977. He was sent to John Lennon's apartment to gather a donation of clothing, and immediatley decided he had to keep a few things for himself. Accompanying this lot is a copy of the letter of provenance he provided to Charles Hamilton Galleries of New York, when he consigned the clothing, including the jacket offered here, to Hamilton's Auction #166 in the 1980s. The letter reads:
I Joel Morris Feb. 28, 1977, Pick up a clothing donation from John & Yoko studio #1 Apt at 1 West 72nd. Among the donation were the concert coats from the Sergeant Pepper concerts [sic] & a tee shirt. Since I was a driver for the Salvation Army I secured the coats from my supervisor for myself and have since owned them.
Also included is a signed letter from the man who won the jacket in that auction, Barry Leeds. The letter on Mr. Leeds' "Wide World of Autographs" letterhead reads: "CERTIFICATION. I purchased the beige, military jacket from the Hamilton auction #166. It belonged to John Lennon. It has two large breast pockets and black buttons with a crown. Some of the buttons have 'Gloucesters [sic] Constabulary' written on them."
Also included are copies of pages 26 and 27 of the Hamilton Galleries Auction #166 catalog listing with the offered jacket among several other pieces consigned by the Salvation Army driver. The offered jacket is listed as "125 (Lennon, John). Custom made army-style (British) jacket which belonged to Lennon. Khaki-colored cotton twill with black buttons bearing a crown, each button with the name of a different British constabulary. There is a label affixed on the inside with Lennon's tailor measurements. The shoulder insignia is lacking, otherwise in fine condition. Accompanied by a photocopy of a statement of provenance from the owner."
The description, albeit brief by our verbose standards!, is correct in every aspect, except for its description and interpretation of the label. It is actually a standard British military manufacturers label that lists the coat's specifications, not Lennon's. John simply purchased a coat that fit him. The five front enclosure buttons do have a different constabulary name on each, which circles a crown image. From top to bottom they are "Gloucestershire," "Dorset," "East Sussex," "Surrey" and "North Hamptonshire." The coat's other buttons on the pockets and the shoulders have a crown image only. It appears the insignias were removed from the shoulder straps--this was likely required before the tunic could be sold as surplus. Based on the style and label, the coat is most-likely of 1930's vintage.
Another intersting bit of evidence supporting John's ownership of a group of jacket styles very similar in variety to what the Salvation Army driver picked up that lucky day in 1977, and later consigned to the Hamilton Galleries auction, was recorded by Anthony Fawcett. Fawcett was the personal assistant to John Lennon and Yoko Ono from 1968 to 1970. In the late spring of 1968, John and Yoko moved out of his Kenwood estate in Surrey. Fawcett was there at the time and recounted the contents of John's closet in his 1976 book John Lennon: One Day at a Time: "The bedroom was empty. All that remained was an enormous closet full of John's clothes--black velvet frock coats edged in gold braid, pin stripe suits and waistcoats, multicolored satin outfits that were Sgt. Pepper originals, collarless Beatles leftovers, military tunics, and countless army surplus jackets." It is likely the offered tunic was among them.
The offered jacket presents with moderate wear but no damage except the holes on the shoulder straps from where the insignia were removed. The button on the left shoulder strap does show quite a bit more wear than the one on the right shoulder. It could be surmised that this was wear from a guitar strap--the jacket was, after all, owned by a guitar player. Excellent to Mint condition.