Belt | Beatles memorabilia

Beatles fans could lose weight by chasing The Beatles across the globe! The accessory that was imperative for such antics was the “Beatle Belt,” which would hold up your suddenly roomy trousers.

As usual, several designs were available. One Dame Belt & Bag version (some were prototypes) came in soft black leather and was 52” long with a 1¼” metal medallion (bronze-like) at one end, and a 1¾” leather-covered disc at the other end. Both end pieces had “The Beatles” printed on one side, and “John, Paul, George, Ringo” on the reverse.

Dame intended to add this item to their inventory but later changed the end pieces to a design that contained band images.

“(on some pieces) a belt buckle was made so that it was generic enough that the company could have slapped any photo in it to sell. Whoever or whatever was hot that week could have been on the belt.” – Marty Eck (Beatles collector and author)

Another version was a 46” long leather belt that sported black plastic loops with alternating brass loops. The ‘buckle’ was a 1½” x 5” flat piece of plastic with a silver-colored facing. A Beatles group photo was printed on the buckle.

Another ‘belt rope’ variety was a black cord belt with a 1½” round, black and white vinyl piece on one end and a 1½” medallion with Beatles silhouettes on the other (they later changed to a photograph of the band). Other designs ranged from a variation that included two medallions (with no vinyl piece), and another option which came with a medallion, silhouettes, and “MCMLXIV” on the sides.

For the trendsetter, a vinyl belt was available in red, blue, and other various colors. The graphics on the buckle were the faces of The Fab Four.

Another prototype/ salesman sample cord belt from Dame was a red and white version. It had metal caps at the end to attach medallions.

Dame Belt & Bag

The Seltaeb agreement was with Dame Belt & Bag, 20 West 33rd Street, New York, New York. The date of the agreement for the manufacturing license was February 8, 1964, with the manufacturing license for ‘scarves, cumerbands, leather jewelry, cloth headbands’ also listed as '’leather and faux leather bags, clutches and jewellery, convertible tie, and also headbands.’

Dame Belt & Bag was the third merchandise manufacturing license that Seltaeb granted.

Dame Belt & Bag was named in a NEMS Enterprises, Ltd vs. Seltaeb, Incorporated lawsuit filed in the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, First Judicial Department, dated: New York, New York, July 6, 1965. Their company received a letter (reported by David Mahler, an employee of the company) about an “amended complaint” pertaining to the lawsuit.

Dame Belt & Bag had its merchandising license included in contracts supplied to Apple Corps Limited on August 8, 1968, by the firm Wright, Webb & Company.

The trademark information for the Dame Belt and Bag Company read: “Dame Belt Company Incorporated. CLUTCH TYPE PURSES, FRENCH PURSES, LEATHER WALLETS, LEATHER BUSINESS CARD AND CREDIT CARD CASES, LEATHER BRIEFCASE-TYPE PORTFOLIOS, LEATHER KEY CASES, COSMETIC CASES SOLD EMPTY, LUGGAGE OF ALL SIZES, LEATHER BRIEFCASES AND LEATHER TAGS FOR THE CONNECTION OF KEY RINGS, BELTS.”

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