Missing tablecloth with doodles from The Beatles returned after 55 years, to fetch $25k at auction

It is a testament to The Beatles' enduring popularity and illustrious status that even a tablecloth with doodles from its members on it can fetch a price of $25,000 in 2022. The tablecloth does appear to have a remarkable, storied history. It was stolen more than five decades (55 years) ago and has now been returned to its owners in California. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, who made up the 1960s boy band, had made rough sketches on the cloth as they ate steak before a concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco in 1966, reported AFP. Joe Vilardi, who had prepared the food, had kept the tablecloth instead of getting rid of the doodles, and kept it as display in his window.

But the tablecloth was stolen a few days later in a burglary. Last year, Vilardi's grandson, Michael Vilardi, got a call from a woman in Texas. She was asking whether Michael's family had had a catering business in San Francisco. "I had a feeling she was going to know something about the tablecloth," Vilardi told AFP.

"Her brother had the tablecloth and didn't know what to do with it and just held it for all these years. It was quite an emotional moment because we never knew we'd ever see this thing again, and we'd all grown up hearing the story. But none of us had ever seen the tablecloth." he said.

Apparently, the woman's brother had the tablecloth, but it was not stolen by him. Rather, he received it as a payment of a debt, and that mysterious person had told him of its value.

"He tried to sell it but since it was stolen he might have run into problems, so his sister convinced him to return it," Vilardi said.

Now, the tablecloth will be auctioned off.

Formed in Liverpool in 1960, The Beatles are widely regarded as the greatest band of all time. They incorporated a wide variety of musical traditions in their work, including American rock 'n' roll and Indian classical music. Apart from their enduring popularity (their fans, which come from every generation, are called Beatlemaniacs) they are also the best-selling music act ever with sales estimates hovering around 600 million units.

Despite their fame, The Beatles operated as a single unit only for a decade until 1970, though they continued to collaborate with each other from time to time. They enjoyed considerable success as individual artistes 'Let It Be' was the band's final album release, but it was recorded before 'Abbey Road'.

Only Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr survive. John Lennon died at just 40 in 1980 and George Harrison passed away in 2001.