Final Auction Price
*Final prices include buyers premium
$240.00
Starting bid: $1.00
This is only the third appearance in our auction of this original handbill for the 1967 Gathering of the Tribes created by artist Michael Bowen.
The Human Be-In kicked off the Summer of Love. It was originally conceived as an opportunity for the San Francisco Bohemians and Berkeley radicals to join forces in celebration of their respective counter culture ideals. The stage was taken by the major San Francisco bands of the day as well as Psychedelic advocates political radicals beat writers and spiritualists.
Jerry Garcia once told Rolling Stone magazine in 1970, "The first really pure event was the Be-In, the first time that the whole 'head scene' was out in force. It was publicized through completely underground channels - posters, word of mouth, and that sort of thing." Since all this occurred prior to the birth of FM rock radio, getting the word out via advertising hand-outs was absolutely essential.
For a good many, this event was seen as having literally triggered the Summer of Love later that same year. The Diggers had set up tables to hand out free turkey sandwiches, from Turkeys donated by the notorious Owsley Stanley, who had also "donated" thousands of hits of his latest scientific creation, "White Lightning"! Accounts vary as to how many folks attended this "free happening" show, anywhere from ten to twenty thousand, and even as high as thirty thousand!
Unlike the other handbills for this particular Human Be-In, by Rick Griffin and Mouse & Kelley, designed to promote/announce this seminal event, a poster of this beautiful handbill was not produced, so it's only available as the scarce, original handbills. The artist, Michael Bowen, was the brainchild/organizer behind the inception & culmination of this timely very early 1967 event. Bowen was also the co-founder of the infamous & notorious San Francisco Oracle underground tabloid newspaper.
--CRITICAL DETAILS--
--TITLE: AOR-2.216 Pow Wow Golden Gate Park
--GRADE: 6.5
--PERFORMERS: Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, The Charlatans, Big Brother, Country Joe, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Sir Douglas Quintet, Loading Zone, Dr Timothy Leary, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Gary Snyder, Dick Gregory, Richard Alpert, Lenore Kandel, Jerry Rubin and more.
--VENUE: Golden Gate Park
--CITY: San Francisco
--DATE: 01/14/67
--DIMENSIONS: 11 in. x 8.5 in.
--PRINTING: OHB-C; Original Pre-Concert First Printing Handbill, Version C
A 20% Buyers Premium will be added to the final hammer price of this lot.
High resolution HD photos available on request.
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