John Lennon would have been 65 years old this year. And to celebrate the anniversary, the National Trust has come up with an odd idea for an exhibition.
All kinds of replica John Lennon memorabilia has gone on show at Mendips, Lennon’s childhood home. Including his teeth.
Mendips, a semi-detached house in Menlove Avenue, Liverpool, was where little
John Lennon (CDs) was raised by his Aunt Mimi. It’s now managed by the
National Trust, who thought up the anniversary exhibition.
Yoko Ono hand-picked the items to go on show. "She has tried to keep the spirit of the house alive, and to refresh
the exhibits so that every few years there is something new for people
to enjoy," said Shelagh Johnston, Oko’s adviser.
Taking pride of place in Mendips for now are four paintings that Lennon did
as a child, including one of a teacher entitled Mr Bob, and one of
some football players and native Indians that was used for the sleeve of his
album Walls And Bridges.
Other childhood artifacts include a copy of his first passport,
replicas of his swimming proficiency certificate, post-war identity
card and Sunday school attendance book. And then there are his baby teeth.
Teeth are weird. Obviously, they serve an important role when they
are still attached to the inside of your mouth, but when they come out
we hide them under a pillow so that a tiny fairy can buy them from you.
And we think that’s normal. It isn’t normal. It’s weird.
Lennon’s baby teeth weren’t collected by the tooth fairy, they were
stashed away forever. Someone kept John Lennon’s teeth. Probably in a
tin. That’s weird, too.
And to top off all the weirdness, the same people thought that
60-year old baby teeth were far too valuable to be put on display, so
they made perfect replicas of them and put those on display instead.
[story by Stuart Heritage]
