"John tried to smooth the way for George by telling Mimi what a great guy he was before she ever met him, but once Mimi got a look at his pink shirt, she threw him out the door," reads TLYM.

"He was a very handsome little boy, with silver-gold hair and big brown eyes. I don't think he minds people looking at him now, because they used to do it when he was a child, on buses and places like that. He got so used to it that if they didn’t look at him he would go up to them and say 'I'm John Lennon, l am.'"

ㅡ Aunt Mimi about a young John Lennon. From The Beatles Monthly Book N°25 (August/1965).

5 September 1960, John Lennon sent his Aunt Mimi a postcard from Hamburg. 

Dear Mimi,

Sorry I haven't written much but we're terribly busy and don't finish playing 'till about 2 in the morning and by the time we've eaten we're "dead beats."

This is the street we playing (the little yellow bit at the end). I'll write a proper letter soon as I get time. I hope you're well and everything  and don't worry about me I'm eating and sleeping well and keeping out of trouble (Scribbled out writing)

 Ok and no trouble. I'll be home in 5 weeks I think (we might be going to Berlin).

Cheerio,

Love John

"Paul used to come to my front door, he'd lean his bike against the fence and look over at me with his sheep eyes and say 'Hello, Mimi. Can I come in?' (to see John) 'No, you certainly cannot,' I'd say."

Aunt Mimi, The Beatles: The Authorised Biography by Hunter Davies

She (Aunt Mimi) is naturally sad about the break-up of the group. “I find it difficult to believe that John and Paul have fallen out,” she says. “I remember them so clearly as schoolboy friends, coming home on their bikes. They had a very close relationship. What this dispute is all about I just don’t know – and, of course, I have never asked John about it. It is his business. I remember once he asked me what I thought about Paul’s first solo album and I said I thought it was all right, and asked him what did he think. He said, in a rather offhand way, ‘O.K.’ . But he didn’t elaborate.”

“I rang Paul and asked him what was wrong because it seemed strange that they had fallen out. But he said, “It’s O.K. Mimi, don’t worry.” Clearly, however she does worry because it is hard to see the happiness of those earlier years clouded by dissent and misunderstanding.

“I really hope they’ll become friends again because I’m sure they have more to agree about than to argue over,” she says.

Record Mirror - 13 March 1971

And I was always saying, "Face up to your dad, tell him to fuck off. He can't hit you. You can kill him [laughs], he's an old man." I used to say, "Don't take that shit off him." Because I was always brought up by a woman, so maybe it was different. But I wouldn't let the old man treat me like that. He treated Paul like a child all the time, cut his hair and telling him what to wear, at seventeen, eighteen. But Paul would always give in to his dad. His dad told him to get a job, he fucking dropped the group and started working on the fucking lorries, saying, "I need a steady career." We couldn't believe it - my Aunt Mimi reminded me of this the other night - he rang up and said he'd got this job and couldn't come to the group. So I told him on the phone, "Either come or you're out." So he had to make a decision between me and his dad then, and in the end he chose me. But it was a long trip.

John Lennon: St Regis Hotel Room Interview - 5th September 1971

Naw these 2 quotes just seem so telling 😭

crying rn🥹

The Beatles in Australia/NZ part 9 (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6 part 7, part 8)

The boys arrive in New Zealand, John tells the best dad-joke of all time, and Paul loves big things

Bob: Now you're in New Zealand, what are you looking forward to seeing? George: I don't know... have a look at a couple of Maoris I s'pose! Bob: Anybody told you about these tikis that you have souvenirs of? George: Yeah, well we saw some in Tahiti, the tiki gods. And I don't know if these are gonna be the same... actually John and I ordered two six-foot-high tiki gods made out of wood... two each Bob: How are you going to get them home? George: Well, we ordered them in Tahiti and asked some fella to post them! Bob: John, you looking forward to seeing your Aunt Mimi again? John: Ah yes, I don't know whether I'll see her on this trip, because the place she's staying at she said is miles away Bob: Will she be going back with you? John: I don't think from this trip, no we're joining her at Sydney, you know... or Eric, or Dave, somewhere like that Bob: John, what's your reaction to the Australian trip? John: It was marvellous, well worth the trip, and we hope to come back! Right? Bob: Correct. What about the circular stage at Sydney stadium? John: Well, it was a bit off-putting the first half of the first night, you know, you don't know what's happening, you keep going one way and then going the other, but you get used to it after a couple of days Bob: Ringo, we see that Jimmie Nicol's had a lucky break back home, what do you think of that? Ringo: Well, he's having quite a few lucky breaks - all the best to him, good old Jimmie Bob: So what do you think of this kiwi that's been given to you? Ringo: What kiwi? John: That thing they gave you when we got on the plane! Ringo: That big monster? Marvellous! Bob: That's a kiwi! That's a nearly extinct New Zealand bird John: Are they that big? Ringo: Well... they're not that big really are they? Bob: No, they're about ten inches tall John: Ah well... Ringo: Well, this was about three foot! John: I knew it was a kiwi because it started polishing me shoes! (Paul sings in background) Bob: That's Paul singing in back Ringo: Yeah, that's Paul singing at the back Bob: And well, you know about tikis, these traditional symbols? Ringo: Yeah, we've got one actually, but they're a dirty load of cheats, 'cause they're only made of plastic, I want a real one! Bob: Are you going to buy one? Ringo: Well, I suppose so, if no-one gives me one Bob: What do you think of the beautiful scenery of New Zealand? Ringo: Mountains look alright (Paul keeps singing - possibly O Sole Mio) John: It looks like the moon! Bob: What's that, John? John: It looks like the moon from here! Bob: Hey, listen - what about the egg throwing at Sydney stadium? John: Well, nobody threw any at us, I don't think... oh yeah... Ringo: I wish they'd fried them first! John: Yeah... one night somebody threw one at us, we didn't know actually till we got off there was a bit of egg on my trousers, but they'd stopped throwing them by the time we got on... anyway we had people posted so as soon as they threw them we were going to get them dragged on stage and smash eggs all over the place, all over 'em! Bob: Now Paul, you were given a kiwi, a very large one - how do you feel about it? Paul: Was it a kiwi or an emu or what? Bob: It was a kiwi, that was what you wanted to see! Paul: Yes! True, well I've seen it now... we're gonna take it round with us, you know in New Zealand. I love those big things. Bob: What about the tiki, you see... they told you all about tikis? Paul: Yeah, some little gods, aren't they? Very nice. Not as good as that kangaroo you gave me though. Bob: Thank you. What about Sydney? Did you like the reception? Paul: I loved it. Knocked out completely.

More about the plastic tikis here - Beatles tiki tour – How John Lennon's plastic tiki became a Kiwi family heirloom

One last photo.

I went to see May Pang in Omaha to get a poster for my friend in San Francisco. She remembered my name and gave me back my vinyl sleeve I had left at the show in Des Moines!

She spent 30 minutes talking to my girls about their schools, hobbies and favorite photos.

My daughter complimented May's handwriting.

May proceeded to tell us a story about correspondence letters from Aunt Mimi to John, written on the thinnest tissue like stationary. Apparently Mimi had the most perfect penmanship when she wrote front & back sometimes eight pages to John in LA. It was a surreal experience hearing firsthand stories about letters back and forth between John & Aunt Mimi.

She genuinely loved visiting Omaha and I gave her some restaurant recommendations before she headed out to the next stop on her tour.

At the end, she gave me a hug and took a polaroid with us. What a lovely woman 💜

Mimi was fierce, stubborn, openly snobbish, pointed, bluntly uncompromising, nobody’s fool – and John was never not aware of it and always gave back . Though she might suddenly break into a Charleston dance to make him laugh (which he often copied), she was never demonstrative in her love, concealing it behind a coded series of verbal scoldings. She never hit him: her worst punishment was to ignore him, because he always had so much to say that needed to be heard. When she did, he’d plead, ‘Don’t ’nore me, Mimi!’

...

Her aim was to raise him as an individual. Both were as sharp as tacks, he exasperated her and she infuriated him, but theirs was always an earthy two-way relationship in which both could grow.

Mark Lewisohn, Tune In

"At first, when he was naughty, I sent him to his room, but he was always so quiet when I did this that one day I decided to see what he did up there, I crept up to the door and looked in; there he was, sitting very comfortably in an easy chair reading a book. He was perfectly happy, and all the time I thought I'd been punishing him. He always loved reading, but only classics, I never saw him look at a comic ora novel, To this day, I don't think he has ever read a novel. His favourite books were all about painting and painters, like John Ruskin' 'Book of Beauty'."

ㅡ Aunt Mimi about a young John Lennon. From The Beatles Monthly Book N°25 (August/1965).

Look at his dirty knees. A real ‘Just William’.

How do you know Mimi was abusive?

You must be joking. Please say you're joking.

Um okay, on the off chance you're not joking.

Here are a few of the things I remember off the top of my head

She didn't let John have friends for most of his childhood. He had to play alone in the backyard. She was more okay with him playing pretend as Alice than seeing other boys his age.

She also only let him go to the pictures once a year, on easter, that was it. Uncle George took him more, but once he died it was only once a year.

She put his dog down

She frequently told him he was fat

According to John's sister she literally kidnapped him at 5 because she really really didn't like her sister and thought she was a bad infuence

There's more, that's just off the top of my head.

Aunt Mimi and John

The Beatles talking interior design

If you can get them off Mimi’s wall

LECTURE 6: MEET THE BEATLES (PART 1): Here is a brief mini-documentary about Mendips (251 Menlove Avenue, Liverpool), where Aunt Mimi (Mimi Smith) and her husband, George, raised John Lennon from age 5 to when he moved out eighteen years later, at age 23 (George passed away on June 5, 1955). Along with 20 Forthlin Road (Paul’s childhood home), Mendips is owned by the National Trust, a preservation group that restores and protects historic places. The Trust has preserved Mendips beautifully over the years, capturing its exact look from when John lived there.