The world of newspapers and magazines has long relied upon ‘Special Offers’ to attract new customers and retain the loyalty of existing readers.
As Christmas approaches, those publications featuring a ‘free’ gift or money off with your first year’s subscription are everywhere.
Nearly 30 years ago, I took up a newspaper promotion that most definitely fell into the ‘value for money’ category.
One Sunday in September 1995 whilst reading The Observer, my attention was drawn to a feature article about The Beatles prompted by the band’s then about-to-be-released Anthology project.
Under the sub-heading But Will We Still Need Them?, the music writer and critic Ian MacDonald (1948-2003) pondered what the next century would make of the Fab Four.
Today, following the recent re-release of the Red and Blue ‘hits’ albums along with what was billed as the final Beatles track ‘Now and Then,’ we perhaps have a better idea.
Photographically, the 1995 Observer double-page spread was lavishly illustrated by four photographs, each featuring a member of the band.
They were taken in November 1963 at a cinema in London’s East Ham by the paper’s celebrated photographer Jane Bown (1925-2014).
Beatlemania was at its height and, for the article, she recalled being smuggled into the venue, which was beseiged by fans.
Using a Rolleiflex camera, she took more photographs than usual while the band counted down the hours backstage before their concert.
Apart from the intimate portraits of John, Paul, George and Ringo, what particularly caught my eye was tucked away at the bottom of the article.
Under the sub-heading “Exclusive Beatles picture offer,” readers were given the opportunity to own an original print from Jane Bown’s 1963 Beatles pictures.
Available as a set of 6 for £49 “including postage and packing,” the 12″ x 9.5″ black and white glosy [sic] prints were to be handprinted by the photographer’s printers.
Whether it was the price tag or a lack of information about the two unpublished photos in the set, I decided to send for a single print of John Lennon for £15.
I was also half-hoping that I would be lucky enough to get one of the first 1000 copies “individually signed by Jane Bown and issued on a first-come, first-served basis.”
With fingers crossed, I filled out the accompanying cut-out coupon and sent it along with a £15 cheque to a postal address for The Observer in Bushey, Hertfordshire.
At this point, I am able to look up from my laptop and see that I was successful in obtaining a print of John Lennon signed by Jane Bown.
Unfortunately, the “letter of authentication and introduction from The Observer” that accompanied the photo had vanished by the time the print returned from being framed.
But it’s a photograph that continues to give pleasure and initiated an interest in Jane Bown’s work as a photographer.
Researching this post, I came across a portrait of Jane Bown I had not seen before.
It was taken in 1967 by Yevonde, another pioneering figure in the history of the medium and the subject of a recent Pressphotoman post (27th November 2023).
https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw84159/Jane-Bown
Wouldn’t you have loved to have eavesdropped on the conversation when those two met?
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As Christmas Day and New Year’s Day both fall on a Monday in 2023, this blog will be taking a short break over the holiday season.
Looking forward to reconnecting in 2024.
Pressphotoman 
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