February 19, 1964 – A British company shipped ½ ton of Beatle wigs to the United States

FEBRUARY 19, 1964 – A British company shipped ½ ton of Beatle wigs to the United States to fill orders for the popular novelty item that were sold for between 2 or 3 dollars each. One was a molded plastic cap that resembled a perfectly coiffed “do” and the pricier one was imitation hair that could be combed. The “branding” of a band and the related merchandising of musical groups was something relatively new at the time.

Teen magazines and the occasional lunch box were the staples of the 1950s, but the Beatles were about to set a new standard of merchandising that would be followed by everyone from the Monkees and the Bee Gees, to KISS, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Miley Cyrus, and now Justin Bieber. Unfortunately, the potential income from the leasing of merchandising rights to their images was something that manager Brian Epstein had grossly underestimated.

Anything with even a mention of the Beatles on it became the next must-have item for young American teenagers. Even many stoic celebrities began to put one on for laughs. It is amazing now to realize that of the dozens of companies that issued various Beatle merchandise, they all only paid a ten percent fee right off of the top to the band, which over the course of the next few years would cost the band an estimated $100 million in extra revenue if the terms had been negotiated in the modern manner, but it is perhaps Brian’s only major blunder.

An American reporter later asked John Lennon was asked how he felt about the teenagers imitating them by wearing Beatle Wigs, to which he curtly responded “They’re not imitating us because we don’t wear Beatle wigs.” Only a year earlier in 1963, the group was still unknown in America but were riding high on the success of their first UK #1 chart hit, “Please Please Me.” They performed that night in Liverpool at the Cavern Club, along with Freddie Starr & The Midnighters, The Pathfinders, and Curtis & The All Stars.