The Who Signed First Class Pan Am Menu Booklet 1974

An original First Class ("Premiere Classe") in-flight menu booklet from Pan American World Airways which has been largely signed on the front by Keith Moon and Pete Townshend in blue ballpoint pen.

Keith Moon has added the inscription “To Sharon Lots of Love WHO!” next to his name

Peter Townshend has added the inscription “The Who” after his name

The booklet comes with a letter from the original owner which reads:

My father worked for Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) for approximately 16 years during the 1960s and 1970s. During that time, we were very fortunate as a family to travel regularly to the United States, often free of charge or at substantially discounted fares through his employment.

In 1974, when I was 12 years old, I travelled with my parents from London to Washington, USA, for a family holiday. We were fortunate enough to be upgraded to First Class on the Pan Am 747 flights.

Three members of The Who – Keith Moon, Pete Townshend and John Entwistle – were travelling in the First-Class cabin on the same flight. Roger Daltrey was not travelling with them.

My parents spent much of the journey talking and drinking with the group in the upstairs lounge of the aircraft. As I was only 12, I naturally spent more time downstairs. I remember spending time talking to John Entwistle, who was downstairs for much of the flight and was not drinking as heavily as the others.

Keith Moon and Pete Townshend spent much of the flight upstairs with my parents. There was plenty of drinking and everyone was in very high spirits. One memory that has stayed with my father is Keith repeatedly trying to get into what he remembers as a clothes cupboard.

My father also vividly remembers Keith Moon wearing a skull ring. He liked the ring and tried to persuade Keith to swap it for one of his own. Keith would not part with it because he told my father that Oliver Reed had given it to him. It is one of those small and unusual details from the journey that has remained in our family memory ever since.

During the flight, I asked Keith Moon and Pete Townshend to sign my Pan Am Première Classe menu. The signatures and personal inscriptions on the menu were therefore obtained by me personally and directly from the two members of The Who during that flight.

I took the menu home with me following our holiday and have retained it in my personal possession ever since, for approximately 52 years. Until its recent sale, it had remained with me continuously since I obtained the signatures in 1974.

My parents, who were travelling with me and personally spent time with the group during the flight, are both still able to corroborate the circumstances in which the autographs were obtained.

Naturally, after more than half a century, some of the smaller details of the journey are difficult to remember precisely. As my father said when we were reminiscing about it recently “A lot of whisky has gone under the bridge since then!”

The booklet measures 33 x 25 cm

The condition of the booklet is good + with a large crease through the middle where it was previously folded