Modern Day Merchandising History

Was merchandising and licensing of Beatles items in the 60’s the earliest indication of this business practice? Far from it. How about we go back to the Middle Ages when Roman Catholic Popes granted licenses to local tax collectors who paid “royalties” to the Vatican for the right to be associated with the Church? This set the tone for the basis for what would become Modern Day merchandising.
The practice (granting rights for the payment of “royalties”) has evolved drastically over the years. In the 18th Century, two British ladies of nobleness licensed their name for use on a beautifying product.
Modern merchandising really began, however, in the 1870’s when Adolphus Busch let producers make and sell a wine key with the name BUSCH on it.
In 1903, Peter Rabbit became the oldest licensing character.

The character (in 1950) was featured on the first lunch box to bear a character, selling more than 600,000 units. This and other endorsements helped sell more than $70 million in licensed products by 1951.
In 1938 the most extended continuous license in the history of licensing was started when the famous BB gun of Red Ryder, western hero, was authorized.
MARVEL COMICS was formed in 1939, introducing SPIDER-MAN, IRON MAN, the X-MEN, WOLVERINE, the HULK, FANTASTIC FOUR, CAPTAIN AMERICA, the HUMAN TORCH, and the anti-hero, NAMOR, THE SUBMARINER and GHOST RIDER as superheroes. Marvel Studios used them to produce licensed products to include many television live-action and animated series based on the characters.
BATMAN debuted in 1939 and turned itself into a thriving merchandising property. Forbes magazine estimated the BATMAN character to be the 9th-richest fictional character in history with a fortune of at least $5.8