Despite the plane graphics, Beatles photos, and TWA branding, this “vintage souvenir” is a fantasy piece. The J. & G. Meakin maker’s mark dates to 1954-60, and the TWA logo predates 1962 — years before the Beatles’ actual tours. Likely made from real 1950s Meakin ceramics with later decals applied on top. TWA never made Beatles dishware; their real 1965 giveaways were bags, folders, and menus. Fun collectible, but not authentic ’60s merchandise.

Despite the “1964” front design showing the Beatles with “FLY BOAC,” flip this 6½” x 4¾” dish over, and the truth appears: a British Airways backstamp. BOAC and BEA didn’t merge into British Airways until 1974 — a decade after the tour it depicts. The lowercase “a” logo style and Wedgwood’s EC 1040 code date it to the mid-to-late ’70s, likely part of a wave of British Invasion nostalgia souvenirs, not an actual 1964 item.

The red TWA travel bag with “The Beatles 'To The USA' August 1965” printed on it became a famous souvenir from the band’s second trip to America. Trans World Airlines (TWA) made these bags just for the Beatles’ flight (TWA Flight 703) from London to New York on August 13, 1965—these were never sold in stores.

No mid-’60s party favor list was complete without these. Manufactured by United Industries Incorporated of Southington, Connecticut, the latex balloons came in six colors — red/pink, blue, yellow, white, green, and orange — each printed with a black-and-white band portrait, in a 5½” size.

Oriole Records famously turned down the Beatles in 1962 — then rushed out this fan-song answer to “She Loves You” in 1964. Studio group The Carefrees (built by producer Reg Warburton, based on “We Love You Conrad” from Bye Bye Birdie) got a “MISS!” from UK’s Juke Box Jury, but the U.S. release hit #39 on Billboard — making it the most successful Beatles novelty record ever, and the only one to crack the Top 40.

Chasing the Fab Four across the globe was hungry work — good thing the Beatle Belt was there to cinch up those suddenly-roomy trousers. Dame Belt & Bag, Seltaeb’s third licensee, ran through a surprising range of designs — soft black leather with metal medallions, plastic-and-brass loop belts, cord versions with vinyl or silhouette medallions, even vinyl belts in red and blue with the Fab Four’s faces on the buckle.

Pat Boone commissioned artist Leo Jansen’s oil-style portraits of the band — sourced from Peter Hall’s May 1963 photos of John and Paul — then built a nationwide contest around them, flying 30 winners to see the Beatles’ Las Vegas show on August 20, 1964. One of those winners, then-eighth-grader Chris Barnes, still remembers being greeted personally by Boone on the tarmac. By October 1964, Boone had sold 10 million of the portraits.

NEMS-licensed calendars came in surprising variety — from a 10”x12” Louis F. Dow “salesman sample” with blank space for advertisers to print their own business info, to an 11¼”x19¾” glossy 1964 edition starting in March with band bios and “How To Write The Beatles” notes. A redesigned 1966 version rearranged the lineup and added musical-note graphics, while Dow’s promotional kits offered vendors six sizes to choose from.

World Candies (Brooklyn, NY) tied this 1966 "Yeah Yeah Candy" into Beatles cartoons, packaging it in six color-coded boxes — John in red or green, Paul in orange or pink, George in yellow, Ringo in blue — each promising a "Free Guitar Sweepstakes" entry. Master boxes came bundled with a bonus plastic Ringo hand puppet, and collector Richard Schneiderman still recalls handing the sticks out at Halloween decades later.

In 1964, Exhibit Card Company of Chicago offered postcard-size Beatles arcade cards (3⅜" x 5⅜") for fans who wanted a closer look at the lads. Printed in black and white on heavy cardstock, each featured biographies on the back. Originals show a yellowed tint and "Printed in the U.S.A."; reproductions are often blank-backed and grainy.

This squeeze-open coin purse from New Items Company Inc. (1964) came in red or black thick plastic and featured Beatles headshots and facsimile autographs. Genuine originals have rounded bottom edges and white-ink graphics; reproductions—common in red, black, blue, and purple—have square corners, black-print graphics, and a hidden metal clasp, unlike the originals' thicker, clasp-free construction.

Written and recorded on February 13, 1964, by the Holland-Dozier-Holland-Taylor team at Hitsville U.S.A., this Motown Beatlemania cash-in was slated for release on V.I.P. Records — until Berry Gordy’s team scrapped it before shipping, wary of the label’s reputation. Locked away for nearly 40 years, it finally surfaced on R. Dean Taylor’s 2001 Essential Collection, with Taylor later admitting it was made as a quick joke, not a serious hit.

Ben Cooper Company's 1964 flannel-and-rayon costumes, masks painted by artist Frank Romano, let kids trick-or-treat as any of the Fab Four — though shipping boxes always held 5 Paul, 4 Ringo, 2 George, and just 1 John, making his costume the rarest today. Per Nat Cooper's son Ira, the colorful smock design wasn't mandated by the licensor— just a bet that bright stripes would outsell a dull suit on store shelves.

Manufactured by Koss Electronics in 1966, based on their landmark SP/3 model, these blue plastic mono headphones with Beatles earpiece graphics hold a notable distinction: the first-ever signature headphones sold commercially. Licensed through FOMISA in Lugano, Switzerland, they retailed at $29.95 and were marketed to retailers as “The Beatles Own Listening System” — pitched hard at teenage record fans and young musicians alike.

Holland Mold Inc. never sold finished statues — just plaster molds to hobbyists, who poured, fired, and hand-painted their own Beatles ceramics at home. That’s why paint colors and faces vary so wildly, and why complete four-figure sets (especially with the rare ceramic stage) are prized today. Unlicensed by NEMS or Seltaeb, these “Trenton-made” pieces are now viewed less as Beatles collectibles than as genuine American folk art.

Unlike the hundreds of licenses NEMS and Seltaeb issued across the West, Japan saw none — local companies had already trademarked “The Beatles” under Japan’s first-to-file system before NEMS could register. The result: a market split between export-only toys made for U.S. firms like Remco, unlicensed local novelties NEMS couldn’t stop, and official items limited to imports and 1966 Budokan tour merchandise like flags and programs.

Best known for sports games, Subbuteo pivoted in 1964 to hand sculptor Charles Stadden eight days to craft 2½” figures of the band for “The Pop Stars In Miniature Series.” The UK got standing plastic figures; the U.S. got pin-back versions sold as “Beatles Official Pins,” complete with countertop display cards. UK sales flopped — killing plans for similar Cilla Black or Dave Clark Five figures — but American teens made the pins a hit.

Need that perfect accessory that screams 'you'? Were you rummaging through your drawer for something resembling a "looking-glass tie"? Grab the official "Beatles Tie Clip" and stand out in the crowd.

Even in Venezuela, you could find Beatlemania! This 1965 newspaper ad advertised licensed Beatles wigs imported from the United States.