Often, books can get listed on such booksellers as Amazon that never become a reality. I remember contacting the author of this book several years ago asking him when the book was going to be released. He wrote back to me saying that he had rejected doing the book and it was not going to be issued after all.
I remember being very disappointed as Pete Nash is an excellent Beatles collector and I am sure it would have been a wonderful and interesting release. Over the years I have bought several wonderful collectors items from Pete including a signed Pauline Lennon book about her husband, Freddie Lennon.
Pete notified Amazon according to his email that the book was not going to be published, yet the notification of the book remains on the Amazon UK site several years later. Hope they update the listing so fans will not be disappointed in attempting to order a copy.
Beatles Collected, The Hardcover – Illustrated, 10 Oct. 2019
by Pete Nash (Author) Red Planet Publishing-2019
Amazon UK Description
The Beatles Collected is the illustrated story of The Beatles told through the products we bought and collected. Beautifully photographed and designed The Beatles Collected includes record sleeves and labels, promotional material, concert and film artefacts and advertising and the whole gamut of Beatles merchandise from guitars, plastic models, clothes, wigs and even Beatles mothballs] The book covers everything from the rare and expensive to items produced in their millions. Of interest to both serious collectors and those baby boomers who remember owning Beatles bubblegum cards, original albums on Veejay or Swan or even a diecast yellow submarine]
Any books that you would like to see published that haven’t been yet? Let me know in the comments.
Here’s an odd artifact from the Fab Four days…you could use it to hum all of your favorite Beatle’s tunes. Yes, you put it into your mouth, and then…hum!
Manufactured by the Louis F. Dow Company and licensed by NEMS, a ‘hummer’ was a musical instrument. The Hummer was an 11″ x ¾” cardboard tube, which sported a lithographed picture of The Beatles and facsimile signatures. Also printed on the tube was “original idea by Merrimaker, N. Y.”
Beatles Hummer
Fab Four Colors
The mouthpiece that produced the musical tone had flared end pieces, which came in four colors: red (some say the rarest), blue, yellow, and white. The idea was that you hummed into it, and the perfect notes from the song would fill the air.
Merrimaker Corp. gave Dow the idea for the piece, which Dow proceeded to manufacture. In exchange for the concept, Dow conferred to Merrimaker Corp on June 5, 1964, rights to “sell for resale only and will not permit anyone else to sell in the USA the product “Hum-Along” Beatle horn or party favor instrument.”
Thanks for the Idea
Dow then added they would retain the rights to sell this item to “advertising specialty buyers & Beatles performance promoters or shows & to other resale outlets except for chain stores that Merrimaker will cover plus their regular jobbers throughout the USA.” From Dow to Merrimaker, this sublicense covered 1964 with “an option for one year’s renewal.” That was Dow’s ‘thanks for the idea’ concessions!
Promotion for The Beatles Hummer
The poster that advertised the Hummer was 20″ x 11¼” and was also manufactured by Louis F. Dow. One poster came with each retail sales box of hummers. The upper section of the poster had The Beatles pictured in a doorway, and information about the Hummer printed on the lower part.
Also provided for retailers was an in-store white cardboard display box with a blueprint that measured 12″ x 9″ x 5″ and held about 80 hummers. The top of the display box was die-cut, so you could fold it out to stand it up at the back of the box. The box read: “Brand New! Exclusive! Get Your Official BEATLE HUMMER Great Fun! Start Your Own Beatle Combo! Picture Direct From London.”
The Beatles Hummer
The Merrimaker Corporation (DOS ID: 24082) was incorporated May 7, 1927, in New York. Their business is recorded as “DOMESTIC BUSINESS CORPORATION.”
Find out more about The Beatles memorabilia in Terry’s great book:
NEMS and the Business of Selling Beatles Merchandise in the U.S. 1964-1966 (2ND EDITION)
The book covers the approximately 150 licensed items that dotted store shelves and helped fuel the band-crazed fan during the time right after the band landed in America and performed on The Ed Sullivan Show. Toys, games, dolls, jewelry, clothing, wigs, and more!
Press preview of the Daily Mail Ideal Home Exhibition at Olympia. Left to right, Margaret Stewart (24) and Jean Evans (17) admiring Beatles wallpaper after they had bought a Beatles hairspray at the exhibition. 2nd March 1964.
Beatles Wallpaper
Amid the worldwide phenomenon known as Beatlemania, Beatles wallpaper came to the U.S. and Canada via Wall Paper Manufacturers Ltd of Manchester. They produced the rolls and shipped them across the Atlantic to awaiting bare-walled fans with adhesive glue in hand! The wallpaper was not manufactured in either North American country but distributed throughout the states and provinces through paint, department, and other stores.
Beatles Wallpaper on a Fan’s Wall
Ed Sullivan
On February 21, 1964, just two days before the Beatles made a third appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show (pre-taped), 24,000 rolls of Beatles wallpaper landed at North American airports and headed for waiting retail shelves.
England
These wallpaper rolls from England were labeled ‘Beat770’ and had a ‘sizing strip’ attached. You would remove this strip – about 1″-2″ wide with perforated color bars and writing – when installing. The wallpaper pattern was four-color photos with surrounding facsimile signatures that repeated every 21″.
Canada
Later some rolls were manufactured in Canada. These were 20.5″ (52.07cm) wide and labeled ‘Made in Canada 33300’ with no sizing strip.
Early sales trended towards the wallpaper quickly becoming a must-have item for teenage girls across the country, who would plaster their walls with images of their favorite bands.
Beatles Wallpaper had a modest store run but fell short of expected sales goals. Retailers started realizing that the buying fans would purchase one roll, cut it in strips, and disseminate it among their friends as wall hangings or decorations for their record players and other items. The market for someone to purchase enough to decorate an entire room was less lucrative than they thought.
Beatles’ Popularity Slipping
Because of this, articles were showing up in newspapers as early as April 1964, announcing that, in their opinion, the Beatles’ popularity was ‘slipping’ because shops had to reduce the price of the wallpaper to move their inventory because it wasn’t “going as well as expected.”
Get Terry’s fantastic book:
NEMS and the Business of Selling Beatles Merchandise in the U.S. 1964-1966 (2ND EDITION)
The book covers the approximately 150 licensed items that dotted store shelves and helped fuel the band-crazed fan during the time right after the band landed in America and performed on The Ed Sullivan Show. Toys, games, dolls, jewelry, clothing, wigs, and more!
Our resident Beatles Memorabilia expert Terry Crain takes a look at another great piece of memorabilia – the Beatles Beach Hat.
Beatles Beach Hat
Now Beatles fans could “follow the sun” in a stylish protective fashion! It was likely a scientific fact that the sun shone more brightly on Beatles fans at the beach, and what type of headgear could they trust? Well, The Beatles Beach Hat, of course!
Manufactured in the U.S., the beach hat (or “sports hat” in some advertisements) was available in red and white, black and white, or blue and white fabric. Pressed onto the white space of the cap were graphics with Beatles faces and facsimile autographs in black ink. When fanned out, the hat was 9″ in diameter.
The Beatles Beach Hat
The Beatles Flocking
The advertisement for the hat lured the consumer with enticing language: “Cotton Twill Stitched Brim Hat with The Beatles Flocking. Blue and white and red and white. One size fits all. Hurry! 99¢. Be In Rhythm with ’em!”
The label inside the beach hat contained the logo from the United Hatters, Cap and Millinery Workers International Union (Union Made). It also had a tag that said: “Made in U.S.A.”
The hat first came out of England in black, then headed across the waters to the U.S. with the additional red and blue colors to the inventory for the American market.
Puritan Fashions had the license from NEMS to produce the beach hats via the U.K. company Kangol and U.S. solicitor/middleman Budd Hellawell. Many of the early Sixties ads for Puritan products included their sweatshirts, shirts, and beach hats grouped.
Kangol Wear
Kangol Wear UK
An interesting side note: Kangol Wear in the U.K. talked via phone on February 10, 1964 (the day after the first Ed Sullivan appearance), to Puritan representative Bud Hellawell. It granted Puritan a sublicense to manufacture and distribute “hats” in the United States. During that phone call, Kangol reminded him that he owed them $1000 as a “down payment” for the license.
NEMS and the Business of Selling Beatles Merchandise in the U.S. 1964-1966 (2ND EDITION)
The book covers the approximately 150 licensed items that dotted store shelves and helped fuel the band-crazed fan during the time right after the band landed in America and performed on The Ed Sullivan Show. Toys, games, dolls, jewelry, clothing, wigs, and more!
Is George Martin the Fifth Beatle? A rare concert program from 1998 in Australia where Sir George Martin conducted an orchestra featuring some of his favorite Beatles songs that he had produced in the decade of the 60s. George’s contributions to the Beatles recorded legacy are both legendary and immense. If anyone deserves the moniker of “The Fifth Beatle”, my vote goes to Mr. Martin!
All You Need Is Beatles
The Beatles Recording Sessions
When I acquired this signed Mark Lewisohn Beatles Recording Sessions book I came up with two treasures, the excellent book by Mark and the signature of Beatles producer, George Martin, who helped to create and produce all those golden nuggets contained within the book.
The Beatles Recording Sessions
George Martin’s Autograph
The Fifth Beatle?
Who do you think is the Fifth Beatle? Do you agree it is George Martin? Who gets your vote?
Companies designed most Beatles memorabilia and merchandise for young female fans. Revell model kits bucked that trend. The company already produced models of planes, ships, and other male-orientated products, so why not the Fab Four? In 1964, the Beatles’ “Authentic Kits” models joined the market.
Like other band items, Revell was cautious about investing their inventory into producing all four Beatles as models. So, after researching that Paul and Ringo were the two most popular Beatles in the U.S. at that time, they designed them first by early August 1964.
Tony Bulone and Magda Kopec did Paul’s original Revell model sculptures for molding, then Kopec did the other three Beatles. Bulone’s daughter, Jill Houghton, added, “Elvis sat for [her dad] once, about the time Elvis was going in the military.” After demand for the models stayed strong, Revell produced all four Beatles by the end of 1964.
All the Fab Four in 1964
“In 1964, hot on the heels of Revell’s popular Rat Fink line came the company’s issue of the four members of The Beatles. They apparently beat rival Aurora to the punch in obtaining the license to the group’s likenesses – Revell was known much more for their kits of automobiles, planes, and battleships than characters; that’s where Aurora excelled.
“All four likenesses were accurately sculpted, complete with accurate depictions of their instruments (Ringo only had a snare drum, rather than a full drum set), and all were posed in the standard stances that their fans could even recognize in silhouette. John Lennon is unusually pictured playing his acoustic with electronic pickups, rather than the more famous Rickenbacker of his early days. Today the Paul and Ringo figures are the most commonly found of the set of four, with George being much more difficult and John being the toughest of them all.” – The Michigan Toy Soldier Company Blog.
UK Version in 1965
Revell made the models, designed to be painted, from white plastic. The U.K. version came out in the spring of 1965 when their U.K. branch picked up the license – had more vivid colors on the boxes and used the British spelling on the package for “moulded.” When the models were first issued, only the John and George kits were released in the
Make Yourself A Beatle
The UK
U.K. market, with Paul and Ringo only available in the U.S. The U.K. versions were marked “Revell (G.B.) Ltd.” and were missing the U.S. price code marker next to the model number. Other than the information on the box, the actual U.S. and U.K. models were identical.
Each box measured 9″x6″x2″ and featured vivid color graphics drawn by artist Donald “Putt” Putman. Once completed, the model measured officially at 2½”x6″x9½”. The description listed that each figure stood 9″ tall – except Ringo, whose model stood 7″ when completed. Inside the model, boxes were individual plastic bags with instructions/assembly directions.
Printed on the box exterior was a description written for each Beatle. For example, John’s story read, “Features…This beautifully detailed reproduction of John Lennon with guitar stands a full 9” high. Each feature is so life-like that it is a “must” for every teenage room. A few simple pieces…a few dabs of paint…and John will be your very own.” There was a slight variation in the name and instrument on the other individual boxes.
John – Kookiest Of Them All
The box for the model of John was labeled “Kookiest Of Them All” (H-1352:150). Paul as “The Great McCartney” (H-1350:150). George as “Lead Guitar – Loud and Strong” (H-1353:150). Ringo’s label read, “Wildest Skins In Town” (H-1351:150) model.
They also printed a short biography on the side of the box:
“John…the most “way-out,” he writes many of the Beatles’ songs with Paul McCartney. It was John’s inspiration that started the group and today he is considered to be the leader of the Beatles.”
Paul – the Zaniest Beatle
“Paul…an irrepressible, good-humored member of the McCartney clan, he is loved by thousands as the zaniest Beatle. His black hair and his hazel eyes have won as many hearts as his left-handed stroking of the bass guitar. Not only does he possess a clever tongue and wild imagination, he is also regarded as the best-looking Beatle.”
George – Freedom of Expression
“George…the youngest of the Beatles plays lead guitar for the group. He has always defended “freedom of expression” and at one time considered being an artist. Offstage he is quiet and sensitive…but on stage, he comes on loud and strong.”
Ringo – Craggy Features
“Ringo…is the pulsing, throbbing creator of the Beatle rhythm. Best known for craggy features and jeweled fingers, his beat has brought ecstasy to worshippers all over the world. The pounding crescendo of these drums has made “Ringo” a name to remember…everywhere.”
The company produced promotional posters advertising the Beatles Model Kits. These posters featured printed drawings of Paul and Ringo on each end and stated, ‘Build the Beatles Revell Authentic Kits $1.50 each. Printed in the U.S.A.’ They measured 25½” x11″ (65cm x 28cm).
“Around 1965, my father had a friend who worked for Revell. One day, the friend told him, “Hey, you got a son, right? Well, I have a garage full of Revell models. Bring him by. He can help himself to as many as he wants.” My dad didn’t believe in ever turning down anything that was free, so I soon found myself in his friend’s garage staring at crates of new, unopened Revell models…from 20 to 50 (I’m guessing) of everything the company had put out in the preceding decade. “Help yourself,” the friend said. “Take as many as you want. I’m going to throw them out one of these days. I need the space for my new band saw.” – Mark Evanier “The Beatles Model Kits” (via News From Me Blog)
Shop display flyers/brochures featured the Paul and Ringo model. They measured 8½” x11″ and were two-sided, with Paul on one side and Ringo. John and George were not pictured but described as “available at a later date.” It proudly boasted that “35,000,000 fans say this kit can’t miss!”.
“I started at Revell (at the) end of 1968. When I had my very first day at the company (Revell), I made a ‘company trip’ with my new boss. When we visited the shipping department, I saw a single small model kit on an empty shelf. This model kit was Paul McCartney. I asked him if I could buy it. It was OK, and I did; it was my very first purchase at Revell. After this first model kit, I became interested in this theme and wanted to know how Revell came to this strange product. At that time, there was a second European Revell-sister, Revell (G.B.) Ltd. in Potters Bar. Our English friends were (a long time before Revell Germany) in the position to create their own products, especially for the U.K. market. Such a project was ‘The Beatles.’
Our English friends took care of the license, which was given by NEMS Enterprises London/England in 1964. The production run was done at Revell in Venice/Calif., the main company of Revell. All four figures were in the international catalogue from 1965 until 1966 only. After that, I suppose the licensor changed, and the license fee became too expensive.
There was never a special leaflet with the pictures of the kits. Also, those kits were never the big seller in Germany. At that time, The Beatles were of less interest. For example, ‘Ringo’ never was sold on the German market, only the other three.
During my job at Revell, I became Head of Product Development at the beginning of the Seventies. Many, many times, I tried to re-introduce the Fab Four because we still owned the molds. But no matter who was the licensor, I never got the permission for a reissue. There were a couple of owners of the rights on The Beatles (Apple, Michael Jackson, Sony, etc.), but all couldn’t give me the OK. The reason was Yoko Ono; she didn’t allow any replica of her husband, John. A few years ago, we were asked by a new licensor to make model kits of The Beatles, but only from the Yellow Submarine comic, but at those figures, nobody was interested.
(About the sculptures which became the molds) The original but necessary bigger scale sculptures had been done in England. The sculptures were shipped to Revell Inc., Venice, U.S.A. And as I know, all the molds from them were made in Canada close to the U.S. border. Today one mold is stored in the U.S.A. and one at Revell in Germany. One mold includes two figures.” – Ulli Taubert (Revell employee, 1968-2017)
There were reproductions of these models made from “heavier” resin by a company out of Hong Kong. Many had extra thin plastic hanging from the pieces.
The Revell Molds
The Instructions
Revell reports that the original molds for the models (each included two figures) still exist. Stored in Buende, Germany, the molds are in excellent condition, even with their age. The company reports that there are no plans to reissue the original model kits right now. Revell researches the possibilities of bringing them back from time to time, but they are not allowed to run the molds because the iconic “Beatles” and “Fab Four” names have copyright protection.
Apple Corps
Revell Industries had its merchandising license included in contracts supplied to Apple Corps Limited on August 8, 1968, by the firm Wright, Webb & Company. The company 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. On April 19, 1965, they received a letter (reported by L.C. Schlesinger, an employee of the company) about an “amended complaint” pertaining to the lawsuit.
In addition, Revell (through their attorneys Gladstone & Lowell, Esqs.) requested that they be “held harmless in this matter.”
One of Revell’s attorneys, Stanley H. Lowell (of the law firm Gladstone & Lowell), reported receiving an “amended complaint” letter about the lawsuit. He told Selteab that “…royalty payments due Seltaeb Incorporated would not be released until Seltaeb Incorporated entered into an indemnity agreement with Revell.”
NEMS and the Business of Selling Beatles Merchandise in the U.S. 1964-1966 (2ND EDITION)
The book covers the approximately 150 licensed items that dotted store shelves and helped fuel the band-crazed fan during the time right after the band landed in America and performed on The Ed Sullivan Show. Toys, games, dolls, jewelry, clothing, wigs, and more!
