The Origin and Significance of the Carnations on The Beatles' Lapels

When the Paul-Is-Dead clues surfaced in 1969, one involved Faul wearing a black carnation while George, Ringo, and fake John were wearing red carnations in a video for the Beatles' 1967 movie, Magical Mystery Tour.  When people equated Faul wearing the black carnation as a sign that Paul had died, Faul laughed it off, saying they ran out of red carnations and he wore one of the black ones that was left.

How did the carnation flower figure into The Beatles' lives?

Let's back up to an interview of our Paul by columnist Alan Smith on June 16, 1966 at the BBC-TV studio The Beatles were in when they were filming the "Top Of The Pops" appearance, famous for the facts that:  1.) This was the only time The Beatles appeared live on that music show, and 2.) It was the day The Beatles were preparing for their big Germany and Far East tour that would end our Paul's (and our John's) membership in the group.

The interview was published in the June 24, 1966 edition of the New Musical Express.  Alan Smith was bragging about how many times he had interviewed Paul.  Smith talked about Paul having a red carnation in his lapel:  "All The Beatles had them.  Gifts of a girl at the London Airport terminal, where they'd been for cholera injections in time for their Far East tour."  Notice that Alan Smith, for all the times he had talked with Paul, had no idea who the girl was who gave The Beatles their red carnations.

The next written mention of red carnations I found was in an interview of "John" in The Beatles Book Monthly of September, 1966  [See the magazine's photo of "John", right].  The interviewer of The Beatles' next John band member (after our John dropped from sight during the Far East tour) said:  "Looking around the dressing room, it was not difficult to notice . . . four black silk suits with a red carnation in each buttonhole- which made one think that The Beatles were part of a wedding part (most unlikely)!"
"John's" explanation of the red carnations was:  "Every time we arrive at London Airport, or depart from it, and whenever we are anywhere," said John, "this girl sends us red carnations.  She's been doing it for a couple of years.  Actually, she came to see us before you arrived."  Given that "John" was new to the group, you can excuse his not knowing who "this girl" is, but you would think an interviewer, from The Beatle Book Monthly, which was the official fanzine of The Beatles, would know who that girl was.

And, who was she?  I read Geoffrey Ellis' book, I Should Have Known Better:  A Life In Pop Management, The Beatles, Brian Epstein and Elton John (Thorogood, 2004).  Ellis was the Chief Executive of NEMS Enterprises, Brian Epstein's company. 
On page 62 of the book, he talked about Brian Epstein's personal office staff.  Epstein's personal assistant was Wendy Hanson and her secretary was Jody Haines who, ". . . had come to the notice of Brian and the Boys by being one of the 'Carnation Girls', two fans who turned up with carnations at as many Beatles' concerts as possible and politely handed them in."
So if Jody Haines was busy, the other [unnamed in the book] girl apparently carried on the tradition.

If the new John wasn't aware of the significance of the Carnation Girls, why would Faul be?  Because from all accounts, Faul took over the top spot of the Beatles when he was installed as the new Paul.  By the time of  Magical Mystery Tour, the new, new Beatles' second album, Faul was calling the shots.

I found Apple Corps Ltd.'s official Magical Mystery Tour website that describes the whole project.  It quotes Ringo saying, "It's Paul's idea really he came up with this . . . ."
There is a copy of Faul's pie-chart outline [see right].

They also have a nice, full color drawing that goes into some of the costs and numbers involved in the production of the film [see left].  So somebody was involved in the production:  sweating out the details.  That would have been Faul.

So I think Faul deliberately wore the black carnation.  And I think this was part of the commentary he was making about, apparently, our Paul.

"Your Mother Should Know", the song Faul sang in the production number at the end of Magical Mystery Tour, is another part of the commentary.  I'll cover that in the next post.


                                                                    - - - paulumbo