American Historical Ephemera & Photography

Posters range in size from 14 x 20 in. to 14 x 21 1/2 in. and promote performances by various artists at the Avalon Ballroom such as Bill Haley & the Comets, the Drifters, Steppenwolf, Siegel Schwall, Santana, Sir Douglas Quintet, the Youngbloods, James Cotton Blues Band, John Mayall, the Steve Miller Band, and Flatt & Scruggs. San Francisco, CA: Family Dog, Inc., 1968.

Includes: FD 132. -- FD 133. -- FD 134. -- FD 135. -- FD 136. -- FD 137. -- FD 138. -- FD 139. -- Together, 8 posters in near excellent to excellent condition, some with minimal edge and corner wear, few with some light toning to versos.  

The work of artists Arnold GENTHE and Stanley MOUSE, John O'GREENE and Wes WILSON, and Dean CALL and Wes WILSON is also included. 

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.