American Historical Ephemera & Photography

Most posters approx. 14 x 20 in., or slightly larger, promoting performances by various artists at the Avalon Ballroom, such as Bo Diddley, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Quicksilver Messenger Service, the Grateful Dead, Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band, the Sir Douglas Quintet, and 13th Floor Elevators. San Francisco, CA: Family Dog Productions, 1966. 

Includes: FD 18-2. -- FD 21 (no number printed on poster, but design details indicates this is a second printing). -- FD 22-3. -- FD 23-3. -- FD 24-2. -- FD 25-3. -- FD 28 ( ) (third printing). -- FD 29-3. -- Together, 8 posters in very good to near excellent condition, some with corner and edge wear, few with toning to margins. 

Family Dog Productions was founded in 1966. Chet Helms, Family Dog's most notable promoter, began commissioning posters to advertise concerts primarily held at San Francisco's Avalon Ballroom beginning in 1966. The highly decorative posters, which feature vibrant, psychedelic graphics and references to hippie culture became so popular that they were soon produced and sold for profit.  Family Dog Productions' core group of artists came to be known as the "San Francisco Five," and included Stanley Mouse, Wes Wilson, Rick Griffin, Alton Kelly, and Victor Moscoso. 

As Family Dog's stint at the Avalon began to wind down in 1968, the budget for promotion was reduced. The promoters started utilizing black and white imagery for the posters, and as a result, the final posters in the Family Dog Avalon Ballroom series relied primarily on photographic imagery.