50 Acorns Tied in a Sack

 

The Ballad of John and Yoko - "Caught the early plane back to London , 50 acorns tied in a sack". 

While filming a part for a movie called 'A Love Story' on the 15th of June 1968, John Lennon and Yoko Ono planted two acorns themselves beneath a circular white garden bench at St. Michael’s Cathedral in Coventry, which had been bombed during WWII and was later rebuilt as a symbol of peace. They were 'planted in east and westerly positions', to symbolise the union of Lennon and Ono and their respective cultures. They created a living art sculpture in the cathedral grounds, complete with a wrought iron bench surrounding the two oak trees, their concept being that people could sit on the white wrought-iron seat and imagine the acorns growing into trees. They believed that the ‘seeds of peace’ in their living sculpture would multiply forever but the sculpture reportedly upset the cathedral authorities because John and Yoko had both been divorced and within a week the acorns had been stolen and Lennon had removed the bench. Then, in 1969, they decided to scale up their 'peace acorn' project. Along with two acorns placed in a small, round case, they sent world leaders a letter that read: "Enclosed in this package we are sending you two living sculptures, which are acorns, in the hope that you will plant them in your garden and grow two oak trees for world peace. Yours with love, John and Yoko Ono Lennon." 

The Two Acorns now on display in the Liverpool Beatles Museum

 

A man, who was about 19 or 20, had been brought into Nuneaton police station after he had been caught drink-driving outside Bedworth a few days after the cathedral planting. He had, with his girlfriend, returned to the cathedral after the planting ceremony and stolen the acorns, coating them in clear nail varnish to preserve them. The now retired police officer, former Warwickshire Police traffic sergeant Mike Davies, said that because the acorns had no owner and, at the time, no value, he could not charge the couple with theft. "They walked and the acorns were left. It was no good taking them back and replanting them because they were covered in nail varnish so wouldn't grow. They were in my desk until I retired in 1980 when I put them in a cardboard box and that's where they remained until I decided to start clearing out my own personal things." He said that when he came across them again last year, it took him a moment to remember what they were. "They were two seconds off going in the waste bin when I thought 'that was John Lennon and Yoko Ono'," he said. He found details of the Beatles Museum on Liverpool's Mathew Street online and decided 'for the sake of a stamp' to post the acorns there to see if they were of interest. In the accompanying letter, he told curators if they were not of interest, "just bin them".

Julia Baird and Roag Best

 

The acorns are now on show at the Liverpool Beatles Museum, following an unveiling by Lennon's sister, Julia Baird. Museum owner Roag Best, brother of the band's original drummer Pete, said John Lennon and Yoko Ono "kicked off their whole peace movement with this art installation, where the acorns were planted".

Interestingly, it was Julia Baird who also unveiled the Beatles statue on Liverpool's waterfront in December 2015. The 1.2 tonnes sculpture, cast in resin and clay, was gifted to the city by Bill Heckle, Dave Jones, George Guinness and Julia Baird, who were unanimous that the £200,000 that was needed to build the statues should come from Cavern City Tours. Clasped in John's right hand are two acorns. They were foraged by Chris Butler, who owns Castle Fine Art Foundry in the Baltic Triangle in Liverpool, from oak trees near the Dakota Building where John lived with Yoko Ono. Back in Liverpool, Butler decided to give them a permanent role, casting them in Lennon’s palm with local sculptor, Andy Edwards realising his vision.