It's one of those seminal moments in Liverpool history.
Julia Baird, John Lennon's sister, reckons there were 200,000 people there the day the Beatles came home for a civic reception.
Now the whole shebang, from the invitations for the Speke Airport press conference to the guest list for the Town Hall party and a host of memorabilia in between, is on show at the Central Library.
It's fascinating, and it's free!
I was at the launch of Another Hard Day's Night at the Central Library last night with Julia, Beatles PR man Tony Barrow and Fab Four egghead Mark Lewisohn among others.
The Fourmost were also there and played a set which included the Lennon/McCartney penned Hello Little Girl, and their biggest hit A Little Lovin'.
Incidently, Tony Barrow was also The Fourmost's press man and reckons they should have been bigger but anyone who was stablemates with the Fab Four was always going to play second fiddle.
Another Hard Day's Night tells the story of the Beatles' triumphant homecoming in July 1964 when girls lined the barriers at Speke Airport (security and health and safety would have a fit these days), fans lined the Fabs' route from Speke to the city centre, and there were an awful lot of over-excited young ladies stretchered away from outside the Town Hall.
So far, so familiar.
But it tells the story from a remarkably intimate angle, that of the organisers who put on the visit and civic reception.
There are interesting letters on show, never seen before, from Eric Heffer (who suggested the visit) to the Lord Mayor, and the Mayor to Brian Epstein.
Heffer, then merely a city councillor, was enamoured of the band describing how he had followed their "phenomenal" rise to fame.
He wrote, in his own hand: "They are, in their way, wonderful ambassadors for our city.
"Their conduct has been of the highest order and we can be justly proud of them."
One of the most nostalgic things about it all from my point of view was the wonderful service of the Royal Mail.
Heffer wrote to the Lord Mayor John McMillan on February 2nd 1964.
By February 4th the Lord Mayor was writing to Brian Epstein, and two days after that Epstein replied to the city. Less than a week, three letters, and the foundation for a historic occasion laid.
And all by post.
Anyway, there is more to the exhibition than letters - although there is one more which caught my eye.
It's the kind of anonymous, irate missive that everyone in my profession has received in their time.
This one, signed "Liverpool Ratepayer", was aimed at George Harrison. The Echo's George Harrison.
It's brilliant! It's unintentionally hilarious. And it's been kept all these years.
In the typed tirade Mr Ratepayer (it can surely only be a Mr), describes the event as "the homecoming of four posturing teenagers; the half wits with the long hair."
He goes on to berate Mr Harrison of the Echo, or at least the paper.
"For long months we have had to endure columns of the most utter balderdash about these b***ards (my asterix not his) who cannot even speak the Queen's English properly."
Of course, we may laugh, but there were plently like him.
My own grandfather banned my mum from listening to "those long-haired yobbos" in the house and she had to smuggle her records over to a friend's. And that was in 1962/3 when their hair barely touched their collars!!!
The display also includes the guest list, made up of council stiffs, family and friends of the Beatles, celebs such as Lionel Blair and Norman Rossington, and WJL Rushworth of Rushworth and Dreaper music shop fame.
There is a small cabinet of items surrounding Liverpool playwright Alun Owen who penned the Hard Day's Night screenplay, and even a running order for the civic visit which included a photo op with the Beatles, the Lord Mayor and a "gift cake" on the buffet.
Anyway, last night we were also shown never-before-seen footage which Granada filmed of the visit on July 10, 1964 and which shows the amazing sight that was Castle Street, Dale Street and Water Street, packed with hysterical girls being held back by police horses and dazed looking bobbies with linked arms.
Julia Baird also shared her memories of the day, when she'd been allowed off school to go - she apparently was worried John hadn't eaten anything at the reception so she passed him a sandwich on the Town Hall balcony.
Later they were taken by limo to the Odeon in London Road where the film premiere was held, and Lennon popped out from behind the curtain at the front shouting "where's my family?" because he thought they'd been left behind in the mele.
Mark Lewisohn is one of the foremost experts on the Beatles.
He told us: "They'd waved from balconies before, but this was Liverpool. It was a chance to go back, have a really big wave and then kind of leave.
"The civic reception was the end of a chapter - the last time they really embraced Liverpool.
"There were four integral parts to the day. There were the incredible scenes at the Town Hall but they had a drive from the airport into the city centre and the route was published in the Echo and the Post.
"And the whole route was completely lined with people. It was Liverpool's own heroes returning.
"The Beatles made people feel so happy. It was a marvellous feelgood moment."
