The vendor, along with three friends, made a pilgrimage to Liverpool in February 1964, during which they visited all four of the Beatles' childhood homes and were received warmly by the Starkeys, Harrisons and Jim McCartney. When invited in to the Harrisons' home, two more young fans arrived who were collecting personal items for an Oxfam Beatles raffle. Mrs. Harrison donated an old pink shirt with black stains under the arms, which she explained George had worn over a black polo-neck jumper when he played at The Cavern Club, and that he used to sweat so much on stage that his clothes were dripping when he came home. The vendor bought tickets for the raffle, and subsequently won the pink shirt, along with a lock of John's hair.

When Hunter Davies interviewed John Lennon's Aunt Mimi for his 1968 authorised biography The Beatles, she remembered her disgust at George wearing a pink shirt to the Liverpool Institute - John used to go on and on about George, what a nice boy he was and how much I'd like him... I eventually said he could come in one day. He arrived with a crew cut and a pink shirt. I threw him out. Well, it wasn't done. I might have been a bit old-fashioned, but schoolboys dressing like that!