‘Substantial Lock’ of John Lennon’s Hair at Auction for $15,000

It's the biggest lock of Lennon's hair to ever be auctioned.

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Would you spend over $15,000 for a lock of hair? What about if said lock of hair belonged to rock legend John Lennon?

Heritage Auctions is banking that someone will, with a “substantial lock” of the Beatles frontman’s shag up for online bidding in advance of an Entertainment & Music Memorabilia Auction in Dallas February 20.

The four-inch lock of hair dates back to 1966, when Lennon cut his infamous mop top for his role as Private Gripweed in the British comedy How I Won the War. It comes from the collection of Klaus Baruck, the German stylist who had the fortune to chop Lennon’s hair prior to the film.

The large lock comes with a newspaper clipping and a photograph of Baruck holding the lock, with a poetic handwritten caption: “Immediately picked up and tucked away: a clump of hair that had been John Lennon’s, cut yesterday.”

Photo: Heritage Auctions.

Photo: Courtesy Heritage Auctions.

The sale also features over 100 other items of Beatles memorabilia, including what the auction house has dubbed “likely the greatest signed Beatles photograph known to exist.” The 8 x 10 black and white photo of the band was taken by Dezo Hoffman in 1963 and signed by all four members.

While collecting pieces of people’s hair—famous or not—may seem like an odd pastime, Lennon certainly isn’t the first public figure to find a market for such things. In 2014, thieves nabbed a lock of Napoleon Bonaparte’s hair from a museum in Australia. Yet another lock of the French leader’s mane was placed on display the same year at a Battle of Waterloo Bicentennial exhibition at Windsor Castle, which leads us to wonder: just how much of Bonaparte’s hair is out there?

Photo: Heritage Auctions.

John Lennon featured in a German newspaper clipping.
Photo: Heritage Auctions.

Lennon’s “clump” already has one bid, and we’re guessing more are to come. After all, it is a strange bit of history. As Heritage Auctions boasts: “To the best of our knowledge, this is the largest lock of Lennon’s hair ever sold at auction.”

The Heritage Auctions Entertainment & Music Memorabilia Auction will take place on February 20. 


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