The unique Christmas gift no fan will believe - a literal part of their idol

Who’s your hero?

I have a few: I like The Beatles a lot, and a load of other musicians and artists. I love Argentinian football manager, Marcelo Bielsa. I can’t get enough of Raymond Chandler’s books. . .

I have small collections related to all of these enthusiasms.

And, my most treasured items are those that are closest in proximity - physical, temporal, personal - to those heroes.

Just a hair cut? John Lennon's appearance, with a military trim and NHS wire-framed glasses was to mark a significant change in his personal, musical direction.

A letter. Books that are close to Chandler’s 1940s heyday. Sixties copies of Beatles records.

And if that runs true to the collectors in your life, you can go one better than my first- and second-remove connections and actually give them an actual piece of their idols.

And, don’t worry, no celebrities, stars or icons have been harmed in sourcing these fragments.

Hair can be a big part of a star's legend. There's no doubt Elvis's hair was important to fans. You could give some to the Elvis fan in your life. Click the image to find out how.

Celebrity hair has a long history

Physical relics have been a well-known way to venerate someone for a long time.

In Christian western Europe it seems that body parts of saints have been regarded as holy relics since the 3rd Century AD.

And, it’s a practice we seem to rediscover generation after generation.

Napoleon Bonaparte Authentic Strand of Hair

No-one is more collectible than Napoleon, still a titan 200 and more years after his death. Click this image to discover this item.

The Beatles are a great example.

One of the stand-out stories of Beatlemania is the account of a reception at the British Embassy in Washington in their first days in the USA.

Through a number of different versions (this is true of many Beatles tales) it’s fairly consistently claimed that someone snipped off some of Ringo’s hair without his consent.

It may have been an aristocratic lady. It may have been a teenage fan who sneaked in.

But the symbolism is clear.

And, soon after the trade in Beatle relics had expanded to bed sheets through a famous incident in Detroit, bathwater, and Beatle hair was certainly a commodity that had value - perhaps just sentimental to a love struck teen, but also potential collectible value.

We've always wanted to be close to our heroes

Each time this happens it tends to be reported as exceptional and unique, but as it happened to the Beatles and will happen to Black Pink, it happened to Elvis and Sinatra and had been happening for a long time before that: Victorian actors, Abraham Lincoln, Napoleon, Admiral Lord Nelson…

Inside a lovely box of the same period, this extremely rare and substantial lock of Admiral Lord Nelson's hair is a priceless link to the great naval, national hero. Click the image to own the item.

(There’s a grisly strand to this phenomenon around deaths, and particularly executions - we have had hairs from Charles I’s beard on the day of his death, when crowds famously pushed to dip their handkerchiefs into his royal blood and to snip hair from his head.)

Hero worship, fandom, adoration… it doesn’t change that much.

The meaning of personal contact can't be overstated

As gifts these items are unusual and deeply meaningful.

It’s something no-one will ever forget.

And these items are always in limited supply.

There’s no reason why they won’t increase in value along the same lines as autographs or other collectibles do.

There are some real standouts here:

Kurt Cobain:

I've known Cobain fans. They really love him. There's no Nirvana lover who wouldn't walk over broken glass to get this extraordinary piece. Click the image to make that you.

John Lennon - from one of the most consequential trims in his career.

This lock of Lennon hair is literally historic. Click the image to find out why, and how you can give it a new home in your home.

George Washington

Can you imagine? George Washington, the Founding Father of the United States, preserved forever by you. Click the image to find out how you can own this item.