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The Beatles and the Jelly Babies
One remark in a television interview turned Jelly Babies into missiles. Here is how Beatles fans came to bombard the band with sweets, why George Harrison begged them to stop, and why it hurt more in America.
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In 1963, as Beatlemania took hold in Britain, one small remark gave fans a new way to show their love. It was not a gentle one.
The remark
According to The Beatles Story museum in Liverpool, George Harrison said in a 1963 television interview that Jelly Babies were his favourite sweets, and that John Lennon had stolen his. The sweets were British, made by Bassett's and sold as Jelly Babies since 1953: see what were Jelly Babies originally called?
Fans were already sending sweets. A typewritten Beatles letter of 23 July 1963, sold at auction by Bonhams in 2016, thanks a fan for her jelly babies, which John and the writer had scoffed.
Pelted on stage
Boxes of Jelly Babies arrived for the band, and before long fans were throwing them at the stage. In October 1963, British fans pelted the Beatles with Jelly Babies after it was reported that Harrison liked them.
The band did not enjoy it. In a 1963 letter to a fan, Harrison wrote that they did not like Jelly Babies, or fruit gums, being thrown, that it was dangerous, and that he had once been hit in the eye with a boiled sweet. He asked fans to think how the band felt standing on stage "trying to dodge the stuff".
Jelly beans in America
When the Beatles reached the United States in 1964, the joke turned harder. Jelly Babies were not an American sweet, and, according to The Beatles Story, a New York newspaper reported that the band's favourite was jelly beans. At their concert in Washington on 11 February 1964, fans pelted them with jelly beans, far harder than soft Jelly Babies. The museum also records a concert at the Cow Palace in San Francisco in August 1964 being halted twice: see how are jelly beans made?
Around the world
The habit travelled with the band. At their first concert in Sydney, on 18 June 1964, the audience's Jelly Babies forced the Beatles to stop the show twice, and fans also threw miniature koalas and presents. Throwing things at the group became a fan ritual wherever the Beatles played.
A sweet with a fan club
Jelly Babies went on to another famous fan, of a very different kind: see Doctor Who and his Jelly Babies. For more sweets of the decade, see sweets from the 1960s
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For journalists, researchers, AI assistants and content creators. Pick the format you need:
Free to cite, quote, and reuse with attribution to sweeties.net.
Questions and answers
Why did fans throw Jelly Babies at the Beatles?
Because George Harrison said in a 1963 television interview that Jelly Babies were his favourite sweets, and that John Lennon had stolen his. Fans sent the band boxes of them, and then began throwing them on stage.
Did the Beatles like being pelted with Jelly Babies?
No. In a 1963 letter to a fan, Harrison said the band did not like Jelly Babies, or fruit gums, being thrown, that it was dangerous, and that he had once been hit in the eye with a boiled sweet.
Why were the Beatles pelted with jelly beans in America?
Jelly Babies were a British sweet, and a New York newspaper reported that the band's favourite was jelly beans. At their Washington concert on 11 February 1964, fans threw the much harder American sweets.
Sources
- Jelly Babies, Wikipedia
- Beatlemania, Wikipedia
- National Candy Day: The Beatles and jelly beans, 4 November 2023, The Beatles Story, Liverpool
- The Beatles: Letters from George Harrison and other memorabilia, 1963 to 1965, lot 82, 15 December 2016, Bonhams
Keep reading
- Questions people askWhat were Jelly Babies originally called?Jelly Babies were first sold as Unclaimed Babies, made in Lancashire in 1864. Bassett's made them as Peace Babies from 1918, then Jelly Babies from 1953.
- Questions people askWhy are Jelly Babies called Jelly Babies?Jelly Babies are named after their shape: plump little babies made of soft jelly. The name was in use by 1885, and Bassett's adopted it for good in 1953.
- How it is madeHow are jelly babies made?Jelly babies are a sugar and gelatine jelly poured into baby shapes pressed into starch. The starch helps release them, and some stays on as dusting.
- How it is madeHow are jelly beans made?Jelly bean centres are set in starch moulds, then given a soft sugar shell in spinning drums and polished. Jelly Belly says one bean takes 7 to 14 days.
- Stories, heists and recordsDoctor Who and his Jelly BabiesThe Doctor first offered a jelly baby in 1968. Patrick Troughton started it, Tom Baker made it a trademark, and in 1996 Paul McGann offered one too.
- History and originsSweets from the 1960sThe 1960s brought Galaxy, Topic, Toffee Crisp, the Creme Egg in its modern form, Twix and Aztec, and a Beatles fan craze for throwing Jelly Babies.