Final Auction Price
*Final prices include buyers premium
$978.00
Starting bid: $1.00
Artist Alton Kelley’s “Memorial” poster announced a three-day run of Grateful Dead shows at the Carousel Ballroom over Memorial Day weekend in ’68. This disturbing yet colorful design illustrates a darker reflection of the national day of remembrance. However disturbing this piece is always on the top of everyone’s “want list”!
The Carousel Ballroom was a short-lived venture by several of the San Francisco bands in managing their own music venue. The experiment which only spanned a few months in 1968 failed due to the bands obvious lack of business prowess. That paired with the questionable ethics of one time Dead manager Ron Rakow led to the Ballroom’s demise. Additionally Bill Graham did not take well to the competition and did everything he could to make sure that the venture failed. The fate of the Carousel was that Bill Graham bought the floundering concert hall and renamed it the Fillmore West. Although the Carousel was short lived it inspired a series of posters that are amongst the best of the entire genre of 1960's psychedelic concert poster.
In December 2017 a same graded example reached $759 in our auction. Many experienced collectors believe that posters graded 8.5 by CGC represent absolute steals at current levels. Read our blog dated 1/31/18 to find out why!
Poster – Grateful Dead Carousel Ballroom
Sub Title - Memorial
Grade – CGC 8.5
Bands/Bill – Grateful Dead
Venue – Carousel Ballroom
City – San Francisco California
Date – 5/30/68
Dimensions – 13 15/16” x 22 3/16”
Printing – OP-2 Original Pre Concert Printing Version 2
Artist – Alton Kelley
Series/Promoter – Carousel
AOR #2.160
Condition Details – Handling in the bottom right. 100% Original with no restoration. View the detailed high res photo of this lot. Click on the thumbnail photo to see an enlarged photo. Click a second time on the magnifying glass in the upper right corner of the enlarged photo. A super high res image with every millimeter will now be clearly displayed. For a personalized eyewitness examination call 410-464-6180 11:00 am to 6:00pm eastern.
*****This poster is available for inspection at our gallery by appointment. *****