The Beatles Flip your Wig

In 1964, the toy manufacturer Milton Bradley Company, located at 443 Shaker Road, East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, released the board game “Flip Your Wig.” Each box contained a game board, cardboard cutouts depicting each member of the Beatles, a six-sided die, and two decks of cards. The instructions were printed inside the box itself.

The objective of this three-dimensional game was to move a Beatle around the board to collect “Beatle” cards and “Flip Your Wig” cards from the two decks. Each set included 48 cards: three featuring the face of each Beatle, three with their autographs, three showing their musical instruments, and twelve “Hit Record” cards.

Images of the Beatles and their autographs were printed on the yellow “Beatle” cards, while hit records and musical instruments appeared on the red “Flip Your Wig” cards. 

To win, a player had to collect a complete set of matching cards: for example, a player using “John” had to obtain a card with his image, one with his signature, one with his guitar, and a red “Hit Record” card. Whoever succeeded in this feat won and was allowed to “flip your wig” (go crazy). 

An advertisement from that era read: “The Beatles’ Flip Your Wig Game. A fast-paced, fast-playing game starring The Beatles! Each player selects a Beatle playing piece. Hours of fun! $1.44”

Milton Bradley stated that it no longer kept production records from that period, but estimated that approximately 200,000–300,000 units of the game had been produced.

The 1964 U.S. Copyright Catalog listed the board game as "NEMS Enterprises, Ltd. ©The Beatles Flip Your Wig game. For children ages 7 to 15. No. 4404. M. Bradley Co. On the packaging. ©18Mar64; KK183898.”

The Milton Bradley Company’s merchandising license was included in the contracts provided to Apple Corps Limited on August 8, 1968, by the law firm Wright, Webb & Company.