At the Beatles press conference, Mayor Vic Schiro had the Beatles sign his Proclamation declaring September 16, 1964 "Beatles Day in New Orleans." He later announced that he would give a copy of the autographed Proclamation to any young fan who wrote him requesting one. He was soon deluged with thousands of requests.
"I've got it on my calendar. Who are those guys again?"
The Beatles are penciled into Mayor Schiro's calendar for 8:00 p.m., September 16th at New Orleans City Park, with a notation to "follow up for names" for the Certificates of Honorary New Orleans Citizenship.
The mayor of New Orleans in 1964 was sixty-year-old Vic Schiro, affectionally called "the little mayor" by President Lyndon Johnson. As a result of his love of the spotlight, a series of fortuitous events, and a humorous gesture of affection on John Lennon's part, Schiro would attain rock-star-like status among Louisiana Beatles fans as the "Lord Mayor" of New Orleans.