'Ingrained in the fabric of British society': the iconic lava lamp turns 60

When Ringo Starr popped into a shop in Birkenhead in 1963, little did he know that his visit would help change the future of what was to become a celebrated British brand. The Beatles' drummer had stopped off to buy a lava lamp, the brightly coloured interior piece that has hypnotised millions over the years with its slow-moving exchange of liquid and warmed wax inside a glass cylinder. After the Birkenhead shop announced its celebrity visit, sales of the lamp rocketed. Then came lava lamp appearances on episodes of Doctor Who in the Patrick Troughton era and in the 1965…