It was 50 years ago yesterday that the band began to play — and now the cover art is up for auction.
The original artwork for the Beatles’ groundbreaking album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” is estimated to fetch as much as $130,000.
Peter Blake’s original collage for the sleeve of the 1967 album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” is included in Sotheby’s Nov. 13 auction of Modern British art, the auction house said Friday.
The artwork had been owned by the late architect Colin St. John Wilson, who designed the British Library in London’s St. Pancras area.
Blake worked closely with John Lennon and Paul McCartney to create the imagery of “Sgt. Pepper.” The British Pop artist designed both the record sleeve and the insert, the latter featuring cut-out sergeant’s stripes and a clip-on moustache.
The Beatles’ debut single, “Love Me Do,” was released Oct. 5, 1962. It reached No. 17 in the UK charts.–Post staff
No boos for this candy
When the economy sours, there’s always sweet Halloween candy to gorge on. And New York candy stores are gearing up for record sales in spite of a sluggish economy.
Candy sales for this year’s All Hallows Eve are expected to hit a new record of $2.38 billion, according to the National Confectioners Association, topping last year’s sugar fix of $2.35 billion.
Dylan Lauren started displaying Halloween candy at Dylan’s Candy Bar right after Labor Day. “We’re already seeing significant sales increases from last year,” she said, adding that sales are tracking to do double-digit increases.
“Confectionary sales generally remain stable even during economic difficulties,” said Susan Whiteside, an NCA spokeswoman. “The low price point for candy, and its importance in so many cultural celebrations and events, mean that Americans are still likely to splurge on candy.”
The average American gobbles 24 pounds of candy a year, mostly around Valentine’s Day and Halloween.
Jacques Torres, the chocolatier with a factory and five stores in New York, is also seeing strong sales this month. His best sellers have been a pumpkin puzzle and small chocolate “Jacques-O’-Lanterns” for $12 a pop. This year, there’s a new item, a one-of-a-kind chocolate cat, created by a sculptor for Torres and made into a mold.
At Economy Candy on the Lower East Side, staff are stocking up to meet strong demand.
“People started to buy in September for Halloween parties, so we’ve been working on the Halloween season already and are constantly ordering,” said Delilah Firpi a manager at the store.–Julie Earle Levine
Who’s cookin’?
How’s the restaurant industry in New York? Steven Kamali, the hospitality consultant, says the sluggish economy is not impacting hiring rates.
“It’s an incredibly robust period. Hiring has not slowed down, nor has the redevelopment of existing hotels and the development of new ones, which is creating new opportunities for culinary talent across the globe.”
He recently launched an affiliate company of Steven Kamali Hospitality called The Chef Agency, to help hotels and restaurants recruit talent, including general managers and chefs. He has a database of 6,000 international chefs.
Kamali has placed Eric Basulto as executive chef at W Hoboken, and his list of clients includes Michael Mina, David Burke and Stephen Starr.
Kamali projects fees from the Chef Agency to pass $2 million annually next year. –Julie Earle-Levine
Suite deals
Private equity company Hellman and Friedman loves its companies so much, it names conference rooms after its best deals.
One example is the “Digitas” room. The company spent $100 million for a 45 percent stake in the direct marketing firm that built itself into a digital marketing powerhouse back in 1999 when the Internet first burst into the mainstream. It sold Digitas to advertising group Publicis for $1.6 billion less than 10 years later.–Claire Atkinson