Apple Boutique closes - July 31, 1968

From BeatlesWiki

Event
Date	July 31, 1968
Short description	The Apple Boutique closes.
Location	Apple Shop, Baker Street, London

On the morning of July 31, 1968, the Apple shop on Baker Street gave away it's inventory because it was closing.

[edit] Quotes

"... Once we were told we had to get rid of the painting [on the walls of the Apple shop], the whole thing started to lose it's appeal. The whole tone of the events around the Apple shop was going sour, and - as it was not working out - we decided to sell it. We ended up giving the contents away. We put an ad in the paper and we filmed people coming in and grabbing everything."
- George Harrison

"It was a big event and all the kids came and just took everything that was in the shop. That was the best thing about the whole shop, when we gave it all away. But the night before, we all went in and took what we wanted. It wasn't much, T-shirts... It was great, it was like robbing. We took everything we wanted home. And the next day we were watching, and there were thousands of kids all going in and getting their freebies. It was great. Of course, Derek [Taylor, Beatles press oficer] and the others hated it but it so happened that I was running the office at that time, so we were in control. Paul had called me up one day and said 'I'm going away. You take over.' It was as stupid as that."
- John Lennon, 1972

"We came up with the idea to give it all away and stop fucking about wth a psychedelic clothes shop."
- John Lennon, 1970

"We came into the shops by the tradesman's enterance, but we were leaving by the front door. Apple is mainly concerned with fun, not frocks."
- Paul McCartney, 1968

"We went in the night before and took everything we wanted. We had loads of shirts and jackets - we cleaned a lot of the stuff out. It wasn't a sale, we just gave it all away, and that was the best idea. In the end, of course, people were coming in with wheelbarrows. It was silly, but we had wanted to open a shop and dress everyone like us."
- Ringo Starr

"I think they got to the point where they didn't want it anymore. It wasn't that it was losing money, it was just that the guys decided, for whatever reasons, that they didn't want to be in the retail business. They weren't retailers and it was taking up a lot of time."
- Neil Aspinall, Beatles roadie

"The nice thing was that we weren't too fussed when it didn't work out. We suddenly realized that we'd better cut our losses. It was great; giving the clothes to people who showed up on the day. Michael J. Pollard, the actor, got a jacket (which Linda took a photograph of - It's in her book). The idea was that you could have one item each: 'You mustn't take two - stay in the spirit of the thing.' Well, they cleaned out the shop. Personally, I think it was a good way to do it because it showed we weren't seriously trying to be in the rag trade: 'Look, it didn't work out so you can have the schmutter!'"
- Paul McCartney

"The giving away of the clothing brought out that worst in people that I dread to see. Cabbies were grabbing kaftans and capes and ruffled shirts off rails: 'I want this' and 'I want that.' I thought it was one of the ugliest things I had ever heard of, this giving away of the clothes. It was awful and vulgar. I didn't want them to close the shop at all, really, and I wrote an impassioned open letter: 'Dear boys, please don't...' I dreaded to see the thing falling apart."
- Derek Taylor, Beatles press agent

[edit] Sources

• [1]
• LENNON, J., MCCARTNEY P., HARRION G., STARKEY R., 2002, The Beatles Anthology, Chronicle Books -- Buy it on Amazon.com