On this day (February 19) in 1964, a British company shipped a massive load of Beatles merchandise to the United States. The shipment included more than 1,000 pounds of Beatles wigs so new fans of the Fab Four could get their trademark look. This shipment helped the band lay the groundwork for the British Invasion and would change the way musicians and bands looked at merchandise in the future.
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The Beatles didn’t start as a dominant force in the United States. In fact, their early single “Please Please Me” failed to chart in the States. However, ten days before the massive shipment of merchandise left the UK for American shores, they dominated the country’s airwaves. On February 9, 1964, the band appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time. Riding on the success of “I Want to Hold Your Hand” the Fab Four performed on the prime time show for more than 70 million viewers. It was the biggest television event to date. More than that, it was the beginning of Beatlemania, according to Ripley’s Believe It or Not.
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The Beatles Introduced a New Strategy.
Today, band merchandise is common. Nearly every band had a merch table at their shows and or sells shirts, hats, and other branded memorabilia online. It’s not rare to see someone wearing a shirt emblazoned with their favorite band’s logo while out shopping or doing other mundane activities. However, that wasn’t the case in the early ’60s. At that time, band branding themselves and selling merchandise was rare. The Beatles helped change that.
The shipment of goods didn’t just contain 1,000 pounds of wigs. It also included buttons and bumper stickers. As a result, nearly anyone who enjoyed the British band’s music could pick up something to identify them as a fan without having to purchase a new lunchbox or wait for one of the teen magazines of the day to feature the Beatles on its cover.
An American reporter asked John Lennon how he felt about teenagers imitating them by wearing the wigs. “They’re not imitating us because we don’t wear Beatle wigs,” Lennon famously replied.
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