San Francisco Bay Area 1966-67 Poster Collection

Fillmore Auditorium and other venues 1966-1967 — Roger Scharmer Collection

Twenty original posters and prints from the collection of Roger Scharmer, spanning the Fillmore Auditorium, Winterland, the Avalon Ballroom, and The Ark in Sausalito between 1966 and 1967, alongside a few pieces of adjacent Haight Street ephemera from the same years. Most are the work of Wes Wilson, the artist most closely associated with the Fillmore’s psychedelic house style, with additional pieces by Stanley Mouse and Alton Kelley (Mouse Studios) for the Family Dog.

From the collection of Roger Scharmer who acquired all of these works at the time of their original circulation between 1966-69 in San Francisco. Descriptions were created with the help of Claude in researching historical details with sources provided. Pricing is available on inquiry.


The Collection
Wes Wilson 1966 Bill Graham Presents concert poster for Them, featuring Van Morrison, and The New Tweedy Brothers at the Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco
Them, “Gloria”, 1966
Wes Wilson 1966 Bill Graham Presents concert poster for Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Country Joe and the Fish, and Martha and the Vandellas at the Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco
Labor Day Weekend, 1966
Mouse Studios 1966 benefit concert poster Peace, featuring Winnie the Pooh and Piglet, for Joan Baez, Mimi Fariña, and the Grateful Dead at the Mt. Tamalpais Outdoor Theater
Peace — Benefit for Joan Baez, 1966
Mouse Studios 1966 benefit concert poster Peace, featuring Winnie the Pooh and Piglet, for Bola Sete, the Grateful Dead, and Quicksilver Messenger Service at the Mt. Tamalpais Outdoor Theater
Peace — Second Printing, with Bola Sete, 1966
Wes Wilson 1966 Bill Graham Presents concert poster The Sound, featuring Jefferson Airplane, Muddy Waters, and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, at Winterland and the Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco
The Sound (second copy), 1966
1966 Family Dog Presents concert poster by Mouse Studios for the Grateful Dead and Oxford Circle at the Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco
Grateful Dead, Oxford Circle, 1966
Wes Wilson 1966 Bill Graham Presents concert poster for the Grateful Dead, James Cotton Blues Band, and Lothar and the Hand People at the Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco
Grateful Dead, James Cotton, Lothar and the Hand People, 1966
Wes Wilson 1966 Bill Graham Presents concert poster for the Muddy Waters Blues Band and Quicksilver Messenger Service at the Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco
Muddy Waters, Quicksilver Messenger Service, 1966
Wes Wilson 1966 Bill Graham Presents concert poster for the Grateful Dead, Big Mama Thornton, and Tim Rose at the Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco
Grateful Dead, Big Mama Thornton, Tim Rose, 1966
Wes Wilson 1967 Bill Graham Presents concert poster for the Grateful Dead, The Doors, and Junior Wells Chicago Blues Band at the Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco
Grateful Dead, The Doors, Junior Wells, 1967
Wes Wilson 1966 Bill Graham Presents concert poster for Otis Redding and His Orchestra, with the Grateful Dead, at the Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco
Otis Redding and His Orchestra, 1966
Psychedelic-era slogan print, Flapping Your Arms Can Be Flying, distributed by Orbit Graphic Arts, San Francisco
Flapping Your Arms Can Be Flying, undated
Wes Wilson 1967 Bill Graham Presents concert poster for the Butterfield Blues Band and Charles Lloyd Quartet at the Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco, January 20-22
Butterfield Blues Band, Charles Lloyd Quartet, 1967
1967 Bill Graham Presents concert poster for the Butterfield Blues Band and Charles Lloyd Quartet at the Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco, January 27-29, featuring a photo portrait of Charles Lloyd
Butterfield Blues Band, Charles Lloyd Quartet (second booking), 1967
Wes Wilson 1966 Bill Graham Presents poster for a single performance of Michael McClure's play The Beard at the Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco
The Beard, by Michael McClure, 1966
1967 dance-concert poster for Moby Grape, Big Brother and the Holding Company, and Sons of Champlin at The Ark, Gate 6, Sausalito
Moby Grape, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Sons of Champlin, 1967
Dance-concert poster for Big Brother and the Holding Company and Jack and the Ripper at The Ark, Gate 6, Sausalito
Big Brother and the Holding Company, Jack and the Ripper, undated
1967 novelty spinner print, Liberator Posters, drawn by David Hodges, distributed by The Blessed Trinity
Liberator Posters Spinner, 1967
Wes Wilson 1967 Bill Graham Presents concert poster for Howlin' Wolf, Big Brother and the Holding Company, and The Harbinger Complex at the Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco
Howlin’ Wolf, Big Brother and the Holding Company, 1967
1966 announcement poster for the opening of The Print Mint's Haight Street location, San Francisco
The Print Mint, Haight Street Opening, 1966

Wes Wilson 1966 Bill Graham Presents concert poster for Them, featuring Van Morrison, and The New Tweedy Brothers at the Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco
Wes Wilson · Fillmore Auditorium · June 1966

Them, “Gloria”

Bill Graham Presents BG-12. Designed by Wes Wilson for the Fillmore Auditorium’s sole 1966 booking of the Belfast band Them, fronted by a 20-year-old Van Morrison, supported by the local group The New Tweedy Brothers. The one-night engagement (Thursday, June 23, 1966) came during Them’s brief, volatile final American tour, not long before the band’s breakup and Morrison’s emergence as a solo artist. The design is an early instance of Wilson’s vibrating, hand-lettered typography that would come to define the Fillmore’s psychedelic house style through 1966–67. It is signed “Wes Wilson ’66” in the plate.

Approximate size: Documented first-printing dimensions run approximately 14 × 197/8 in, per the Bill Graham Archives (Wolfgang’s Vault) — pending direct measurement of this copy to confirm printing state.

Sources: Bill Graham Presents Company, “Them Vintage Concert Poster from Fillmore Auditorium, Jun 23, 1966,” Wolfgang’s Vault / Bill Graham Archives, accessed August 31, 2026; Bill Graham Presents Company, “Them Vintage Concert Postcard from Fillmore Auditorium, Jun 23, 1966,” Wolfgang’s Vault / Bill Graham Archives, accessed August 31, 2026.


Wes Wilson 1966 Bill Graham Presents concert poster for Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Country Joe and the Fish, and Martha and the Vandellas at the Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco
Wes Wilson · Fillmore Auditorium · September 1966

Labor Day Weekend

Bill Graham Presents BG-26. A four-night Labor Day weekend run: Jefferson Airplane with the P.H. Phactor Jug Band and Andrew Staples (Sept. 2–3), the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Country Joe and the Fish (Sept. 4), and — unexpectedly for a psychedelic ballroom bill — Motown’s Martha and the Vandellas with Johnny Talbot and De Thangs (Sept. 5). The pairing of a Motown headliner with the emerging acid-rock scene reflects Bill Graham’s genre-crossing booking instincts in the Fillmore’s first year. Wes Wilson’s dense, optically vibrating lettering compresses an unusually long bill onto a single sheet.

Approximate size: Early printings measure approximately 133/8 × 207/8 in, per the Bill Graham Archives (Wolfgang’s Vault) — pending direct measurement of this copy.

Sources: Bill Graham Presents Company, “Jefferson Airplane Vintage Concert Poster from Fillmore Auditorium, Sep 2, 1966,” Wolfgang’s Vault / Bill Graham Archives, accessed August 31, 2026; Bill Graham Presents Company, “Jefferson Airplane Vintage Concert Postcard from Fillmore Auditorium, Sep 2, 1966,” Wolfgang’s Vault / Bill Graham Archives, accessed August 31, 2026.


Mouse Studios 1966 benefit concert poster Peace, featuring Winnie the Pooh and Piglet, for Joan Baez, Mimi Fariña, and the Grateful Dead at the Mt. Tamalpais Outdoor Theater
Mouse Studios · Mt. Tamalpais Outdoor Theater · October 1966

Peace — Benefit for Joan Baez

A benefit poster (Stanley Mouse and Alton Kelley, printed by the Bindweed Press) for the 1st Congressional District Write-In Committee for Phil Drath, advertising a Saturday afternoon, October 8, 1966 concert at the Mt. Tamalpais Outdoor Theater headlined by Joan Baez and Mimi Fariña, backed by the Grateful Dead and Quicksilver Messenger Service, with speakers Ed Keating and Don Duncan. This is the first-printing state of the design, catalogued as AOR 2.325 in The Art of Rock. Baez and Fariña both later withdrew from the bill; a second printing substituting Bola Sete in their place (AOR 2.327) exists in two separate examples on this site — one from Susan Rush’s own collection, catalogued on the Historic Posters page, and a second, distinct copy from the Roger Scharmer collection, catalogued below. The artwork — two figures modeled on A. A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet walking into a red sunset over the word “Peace” — is a gentler, more whimsical register than Mouse & Kelley’s better-known Avalon Ballroom work, suited to an outdoor daytime benefit rather than a ballroom dance-concert.

Approximate size: 14 × 20 in for this first-printing state, per Concert Poster Gallery’s catalog record for AOR 2.325 — pending direct measurement of this copy.

Sources: Concert Poster Gallery, “AOR 2.325-OP-1 — Mt. Tamalpais — Peace — Joan Baez — Grateful Dead Concert Poster”, accessed August 31, 2026; Grateful Dead, “Show: October 8, 1966 — Mt. Tamalpais Amphitheatre,” Dead.net, accessed August 31, 2026.


Mouse Studios 1966 benefit concert poster Peace, featuring Winnie the Pooh and Piglet, for Bola Sete, the Grateful Dead, and Quicksilver Messenger Service at the Mt. Tamalpais Outdoor Theater
Mouse Studios · Mt. Tamalpais Outdoor Theater · October 1966

Peace — Second Printing, with Bola Sete

A second printing of the same Stanley Mouse and Alton Kelley design (above), catalogued as AOR 2.327 in The Art of Rock, issued after Joan Baez and Mimi Fariña both withdrew from the October 8, 1966 Mt. Tamalpais benefit for Phil Drath. Brazilian-born jazz guitarist Bola Sete took the top slot instead, alongside the returning Grateful Dead and Quicksilver Messenger Service, with Ed Keating and Don Duncan again listed as speakers. This is a second, separate physical copy from the Roger Scharmer collection — a different example of this second-printing state is already catalogued on this site’s Historic Posters page, from Susan Rush’s own collection. Sources disagree on where the Grateful Dead played later that same evening: one auction-house account names the Fillmore Auditorium (Bill Graham Presents BG-30), another names Winterland alongside the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Jefferson Airplane — a discrepancy noted here rather than resolved without further research.

Approximate size: Documented examples vary by format — approximately 14½ × 20 in for a full poster-size printing, and a smaller 8½ × 11 in handbill-size example is also documented — pending direct measurement of this copy to determine which format it matches.

Sources: Concert Poster Gallery, “AOR 2.327-OP-1 — Grateful Dead — Bola Sete — Mt. Tamalpais PEACE Concert Poster”, accessed August 31, 2026; SF Rock Posters & Collectibles, “AOR 2.327 — Grateful Dead — ‘Peace Pooh’ — Mouse Signed — 1966 Handbill”, accessed August 31, 2026; Grateful Dead, “Show: October 8, 1966 — Mt. Tamalpais Amphitheatre,” Dead.net, accessed August 31, 2026.


Wes Wilson 1966 Bill Graham Presents concert poster The Sound, featuring Jefferson Airplane, Muddy Waters, and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, at Winterland and the Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco
Wes Wilson · Winterland & Fillmore Auditorium · 1966

The Sound (second copy)

Bill Graham Presents BG-29, for a run of concerts at Winterland (Sept. 23–24 and 30–Oct. 1) and two Sunday afternoons at the Fillmore Auditorium (Sept. 25 and Oct. 2), 1966, featuring Jefferson Airplane, Muddy Waters, and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Widely regarded as one of the most iconic images of the 1960s psychedelic poster movement, pairing Wilson’s Art Nouveau-influenced lettering with a nude female figure at center. Note: another example of this poster is already catalogued on this site’s Historic Posters page (WESWIL.4) — this is a second, separate physical copy from the Roger Scharmer collection, not a duplicate listing of the same object.

Approximate size: Documented examples of this printing run approximately 24½ × 14 in — pending direct measurement of this specific copy against the Historic Posters page’s example to confirm they share the same printing state.

Sources: Museum of Modern Art, “Wes Wilson. The Sound. 1966,” MoMA Collection, accessed August 31, 2026; Bill Graham Presents Company, “The Sound Vintage Concert Poster from Winterland, Sep 23, 1966,” Wolfgang’s Vault / Bill Graham Archives, accessed August 31, 2026.


1966 Family Dog Presents concert poster by Mouse Studios for the Grateful Dead and Oxford Circle at the Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco
Mouse Studios · Family Dog Presents · Avalon Ballroom · November 1966

Grateful Dead, Oxford Circle

Family Dog Presents FD-33 (Chet Helms), designed by Stanley Mouse and Alton Kelley, for the Grateful Dead and the San Francisco band Oxford Circle at the Avalon Ballroom, with light shows by Roger Hillyard and Ben Van Meter. The eagle-claw-and-medallion “Family Dog Presents” motif, spelling out the phrase “May the baby Jesus shut your mouth and open your mind,” is one of Mouse & Kelley’s most recognized design devices, and stands in visual contrast to Wes Wilson’s contemporaneous work for Bill Graham’s Fillmore Auditorium across town. Sources disagree slightly on the exact second night of this booking — the Bill Graham Archives (Wolfgang’s Vault) give November 4–5, while a Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco catalog record for the same design lists November 4 & 6 — noted here rather than resolved in favor of either without examining this copy’s printed date directly.

Approximate size: Documented printings vary by state, roughly 14¼ × 20 in — pending direct measurement and printing-state identification for this copy.

Sources: Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, “‘Logo,’ Grateful Dead, Oxford Circle, November 4 & 6, Avalon Ballroom,” FAMSF Collections, accessed August 31, 2026; Family Dog Productions / Bill Graham Presents Company, “Grateful Dead Vintage Concert Poster from Avalon Ballroom, Nov 4, 1966,” Wolfgang’s Vault / Bill Graham Archives, accessed August 31, 2026.


Wes Wilson 1966 Bill Graham Presents concert poster for the Grateful Dead, James Cotton Blues Band, and Lothar and the Hand People at the Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco
Wes Wilson · Fillmore Auditorium · November 1966

Grateful Dead, James Cotton, Lothar and the Hand People

Bill Graham Presents BG-38, for the Grateful Dead’s three-performance weekend (Friday–Saturday, Nov. 18–19, 9pm–2am, plus a Sunday matinee, Nov. 20, 2–7pm) alongside Chicago blues harmonica player James Cotton’s band and the New York psych-pop group Lothar and the Hand People. An impression is held in the permanent collection of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; a claim that a second impression is held by the Art Gallery of Ontario has not been independently corroborated in the sources checked. Later (1986) reprints of this design carry a printed line reading “Copyright © 1986 Wes Wilson”; whether the original 1966 printing carries a comparable copyright line has not been confirmed and should be checked directly against this copy.

Approximate size: Sheet size approximately 21 × 13 7/16 in (534 × 342 mm), per the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco’s catalog record.

Sources: Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, “Grateful Dead, James Cotton Chicago Blues Band, Lothar and Hand People, November 18–20, Fillmore Auditorium,” FAMSF Collections, accessed August 31, 2026; Bill Graham Presents Company, “Grateful Dead Vintage Concert Poster from Fillmore Auditorium, Nov 18, 1966,” Wolfgang’s Vault / Bill Graham Archives, accessed August 31, 2026.


Wes Wilson 1966 Bill Graham Presents concert poster for the Muddy Waters Blues Band and Quicksilver Messenger Service at the Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco
Wes Wilson · Fillmore Auditorium · November 1966

Muddy Waters, Quicksilver Messenger Service

Bill Graham Presents BG-35, billing Chicago blues legend Muddy Waters and his Blues Band alongside Fillmore regulars Quicksilver Messenger Service and opener Andrew Staples, November 4–6, 1966. The booking is part of the same lineage of blues pairings — B.B. King, James Cotton, Muddy Waters — through which Graham introduced the Fillmore’s young rock audience to the Chicago blues artists who directly influenced the San Francisco sound.

Approximate size: Documented printings run approximately 13 3/4–13 13/16 × 22 3/8–22½ in depending on state, per the Bill Graham Archives (Wolfgang’s Vault) — pending direct measurement of this copy.

Sources: Bill Graham Presents Company, “Muddy Waters Blues Band Vintage Concert Poster from Fillmore Auditorium, Nov 4, 1966,” Wolfgang’s Vault / Bill Graham Archives, accessed August 31, 2026.


Wes Wilson 1966 Bill Graham Presents concert poster for the Grateful Dead, Big Mama Thornton, and Tim Rose at the Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco
Wes Wilson · Fillmore Auditorium · December 1966

Grateful Dead, Big Mama Thornton, Tim Rose

Bill Graham Presents BG-41, for a three-night run (December 9–11, 1966) pairing the Grateful Dead with blues singer Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton (of “Hound Dog” and “Ball ‘n’ Chain”) and folk-rock singer Tim Rose, whose 1966 recording of “Hey Joe” — referenced directly on the poster — is the arrangement Jimi Hendrix based his own cover on the following year. The bill reflects the Fillmore’s ongoing mixing of the San Francisco rock vanguard with blues and folk artists whose material was actively being reinterpreted by that scene.

Approximate size: Approximately 22 × 14 in per a commercial dealer listing; the Bill Graham Archives (Wolfgang’s Vault) independently documents very similar dimensions for this printing (14 × 21 15/16 in to 14 × 22 1/8 in across two printings) — not a museum accession record, but no longer dealer-sourced alone. Treat as approximate pending direct measurement of this copy.

Sources: Bill Graham Presents Company, “Grateful Dead Vintage Concert Poster from Fillmore Auditorium, Dec 9, 1966,” Wolfgang’s Vault / Bill Graham Archives, accessed August 31, 2026.


Wes Wilson 1967 Bill Graham Presents concert poster for the Grateful Dead, The Doors, and Junior Wells Chicago Blues Band at the Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco
Wes Wilson · Fillmore Auditorium · January 1967

Grateful Dead, The Doors, Junior Wells

Bill Graham Presents BG-45, for a three-night run (January 13–15, 1967) pairing the Grateful Dead and Junior Wells’ Chicago Blues Band with a still-rising Los Angeles band, The Doors, in one of that group’s first San Francisco engagements under Bill Graham’s presentation. The dense, near-illegible lettering is characteristic of Wilson’s mature “Fillmore school” style, which by early 1967 had become the dominant visual language of the San Francisco poster movement.

Approximate size: A later (1986) reprint is documented at 15¼ × 24 5/16 in — this figure should not be assumed for an original first printing; dimensions of this specific copy need direct measurement and printing-state identification.

Sources: Bill Graham Presents Company, “Grateful Dead Vintage Concert Poster from Fillmore Auditorium, Jan 13, 1967,” Wolfgang’s Vault / Bill Graham Archives, accessed August 31, 2026.


Wes Wilson 1966 Bill Graham Presents concert poster for Otis Redding and His Orchestra, with the Grateful Dead, at the Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco
Wes Wilson · Fillmore Auditorium · December 1966

Otis Redding and His Orchestra

Bill Graham Presents BG-43, printed by West Coast Lithograph Co., for a three-night Otis Redding stand (December 20–22, 1966), each night paired with a different local act — the Grateful Dead, Johnny Talbot and De Thangs, and Country Joe and the Fish. Bill Graham later called this run “the best gig I ever put on in my whole life”; it stands as one of the rare direct crossovers between the Stax/Volt soul circuit and San Francisco’s psychedelic ballroom scene, months before Redding’s Monterey Pop appearance broke him to a national rock audience.

Approximate size: A later (4th) printing is documented at 14 × 22 in; first-printing dimensions were not independently corroborated — needs direct measurement/printing-state identification for this copy.

Sources: Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, “Otis Redding & His Orchestra, Grateful Dead, Johnny Talbot & de Thangs, Country Joe & the Fish, December 20–22, Fillmore Auditorium,” FAMSF Collections, accessed August 31, 2026; Bill Graham Presents Company, “Otis Redding & His Orchestra Vintage Concert Poster from Fillmore Auditorium, Dec 20, 1966,” Wolfgang’s Vault / Bill Graham Archives, accessed August 31, 2026.


Psychedelic-era slogan print, Flapping Your Arms Can Be Flying, distributed by Orbit Graphic Arts, San Francisco
Orbit Graphic Arts · San Francisco

Flapping Your Arms Can Be Flying

Not a concert handbill but a standalone psychedelic-era slogan print, distributed by Orbit Graphic Arts of 1345 Howard Street, San Francisco — a Haight-era print house documented producing other countercultural graphic work in this period, including a 1967 print by the artist Satty. This example belongs to the broader market for aphoristic “wisdom” prints sold through headshops and bookstores alongside band handbills, meant for wall display rather than event promotion. No artist attribution for this specific design was found in the sources searched; treat as unattributed pending further research.

Approximate size: Dimensions not independently corroborated — needs direct measurement of this copy.

Sources: No independently verifiable museum, archival, or academic source was located for this print’s design, publisher, or the Orbit Graphic Arts attribution; this entry reflects examination of the object and general knowledge of the Haight Street print-house scene of the period, accessed August 31, 2026.


Wes Wilson 1967 Bill Graham Presents concert poster for the Butterfield Blues Band and Charles Lloyd Quartet at the Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco, January 20-22
Wes Wilson · Fillmore Auditorium · January 1967

Butterfield Blues Band, Charles Lloyd Quartet

Bill Graham Presents BG-46, for the Fillmore debut pairing of Paul Butterfield’s electric blues band with the more jazz-inflected Charles Lloyd Quartet, Friday–Saturday, January 20–21, 1967, plus the venue’s regular Sunday-afternoon dance concert on January 22. The booking illustrates Graham’s genre-crossing programming, mixing electric Chicago blues with modal jazz for the same countercultural audience. This is the first of two closely spaced Butterfield/Lloyd pairings that January — a second, differently designed poster followed the next week (below).

Approximate size: First printing documented at approximately 143/4 × 217/8 in, per the Bill Graham Archives (Wolfgang’s Vault) — pending confirmation of this copy’s printing state.

Sources: Bill Graham Presents Company, “The Paul Butterfield Blues Band Vintage Concert Poster from Fillmore Auditorium, Jan 20, 1967,” Wolfgang’s Vault / Bill Graham Archives, accessed August 31, 2026.


1967 Bill Graham Presents concert poster for the Butterfield Blues Band and Charles Lloyd Quartet at the Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco, January 27-29, featuring a photo portrait of Charles Lloyd
Bill Graham · Fillmore Auditorium · January 1967

Butterfield Blues Band, Charles Lloyd Quartet (second booking)

Bill Graham Presents BG-47, the return engagement of the Butterfield Blues Band and Charles Lloyd Quartet the following week, January 27–29, 1967 (Friday–Saturday headline dates plus the Jan. 29 Sunday dance concert). Where the previous week’s poster (BG-46, above) used a group photograph of the touring bands, this design substitutes a photographic portrait of Charles Lloyd, and carries a “© Bill Graham 1967” line rather than a Wilson signature — a useful pair for comparing how Graham and Wilson varied imagery for a near-immediate return booking of the same acts.

Approximate size: A commercial dealer source gives approximately 14⅜ × 22⅞ in; the Bill Graham Archives (Wolfgang’s Vault) independently documents this printing at 14 7/16 in × 22 7/8 in, within a sixteenth of an inch of the dealer figure — not a museum accession record, but no longer dealer-sourced alone. Treat as approximate pending direct measurement of this copy.

Sources: Bill Graham Presents Company, “The Paul Butterfield Blues Band Vintage Concert Poster from Fillmore Auditorium, Jan 27, 1967,” Wolfgang’s Vault / Bill Graham Archives, accessed August 31, 2026.


Wes Wilson 1966 Bill Graham Presents poster for a single performance of Michael McClure's play The Beard at the Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco
Wes Wilson · The American Theatre at the Fillmore · July 1966

The Beard, by Michael McClure

Bill Graham Presents BG-19, for a single Sunday-evening performance (July 24, 1966, 8:30pm, “over 18 only”) of Michael McClure’s play The Beard, directed by Marc Estrin with a visual score by Anthony Martin and featuring Richard Bright and Billie Dixon — a rare crossover of Bill Graham’s rock-ballroom operation into avant-garde theater. McClure’s play, an incantatory two-hander imagining an erotically charged confrontation between Billy the Kid and Jean Harlow, had premiered at San Francisco’s Actor’s Workshop the previous December and drew notice for its raw language and simulated sex act; cast members were arrested on obscenity charges at San Francisco’s Committee Theater weeks after this Fillmore staging (August 8, 1966) and again in Berkeley (August 20, 1966), both cases eventually dismissed. The play went on to a 1967–68 off-Broadway run that won two Obie Awards.

Approximate size: First printing documented at approximately 14 × 19 15/16 in, per the Bill Graham Archives (Wolfgang’s Vault) — pending confirmation of this copy’s printing state.

Sources: Bill Graham Presents Company, “The American Theatre Vintage Concert Poster from Fillmore Auditorium, Jul 24, 1966,” Wolfgang’s Vault / Bill Graham Archives, accessed August 31, 2026; Wikipedia contributors, “The Beard (play),” Wikipedia, accessed August 31, 2026.


1967 dance-concert poster for Moby Grape, Big Brother and the Holding Company, and Sons of Champlin at The Ark, Gate 6, Sausalito
The Ark · Sausalito · October 1967

Moby Grape, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Sons of Champlin

A dance-concert poster (lights by Funny Co.) for October 13–14, 1967 at The Ark, a converted 1916 ferry — the Charles Van Damme — moored at Gate 6 in Sausalito, which operated as a freewheeling, no-cover after-hours club and became an incubator for the emerging Bay Area sound. This bill captures the venue near its cultural peak: Moby Grape, fresh off their acclaimed 1967 debut; Big Brother and the Holding Company, newly prominent nationally after Janis Joplin’s breakout at that June’s Monterey Pop Festival; and Marin County’s own Sons of Champlin. A commercial dealer listing attributes the ornate Art Nouveau design to artist John Lichtenwalner; this attribution is not independently confirmed by a museum or archival source.

Approximate size: Approximately 22 × 16 in, per a commercial dealer listing — not corroborated by a museum/archival source; treat as approximate pending direct measurement of this copy.

Sources: Checkered Records, “Authentic Original 1967 Dance Concert — Moby Grape, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Sons of Champlin at The Ark, Gate 6, Sausalito, October 1967 — John Lichtenwalner Concert Poster”, accessed August 31, 2026; Sausalito Historical Society, “The Long, Strange Trip of the Charles Van Damme”, accessed August 31, 2026.


Dance-concert poster for Big Brother and the Holding Company and Jack and the Ripper at The Ark, Gate 6, Sausalito
The Ark · Sausalito

Big Brother and the Holding Company, Jack and the Ripper

A dance-concert poster (lights by Funny Co.) for an October 6 booking at The Ark, Gate 6, Sausalito, headlined by Big Brother and the Holding Company alongside an act billed as “Jack and the Ripper,” which does not appear in standard band directories or setlist archives and should be treated as an obscure or one-off regional support act pending further documentation. The Mucha-influenced illustration of a woman’s head and flowing hair situates the design within the period’s dominant Art Nouveau-revival visual language. A Royal Ontario Museum catalog record for this poster (accession 988.201.22) dates it to 1967 and tentatively attributes the design to “probably… John Lichtenwalner” — consistent with the shared “Lights by Funny Co.” credit on the confirmed October 1967 Ark poster above. The ROM itself lists the artist as unidentified pending further research, so the attribution should be read as museum-documented but tentative, not settled.

Approximate size: Dimensions not independently corroborated — needs direct measurement of this copy.

Sources: Royal Ontario Museum, “Big Brother and the Holding Company, Jack the Ripper, The Ark, Sausalito,” ROM Collections, accessed August 31, 2026.


1967 novelty spinner print, Liberator Posters, drawn by David Hodges, distributed by The Blessed Trinity
David Hodges · The Blessed Trinity · 1967

Liberator Posters Spinner

A novelty “spinner” print rather than an event poster — a ring of interlocking figures arranged around a pinwheel design, with printed instructions to cut it out and spin it “in center of universe… state… room” as a tongue-in-cheek psychedelic-era plaything. Drawn by David Hodges and distributed by The Blessed Trinity, dated 1967 in the printed copyright line. It belongs to the same wave of Haight-era novelty ephemera as the “Flapping Your Arms” print above — wall and shelf items sold alongside concert handbills rather than tied to a specific show or venue.

Approximate size: Dimensions not independently corroborated — needs direct measurement of this copy.

Sources: The Blessed Trinity, “The Blessed Trinity Vintage Concert Poster, 1967,” Wolfgang’s Vault / Bill Graham Archives, accessed August 31, 2026.


Wes Wilson 1967 Bill Graham Presents concert poster for Howlin' Wolf, Big Brother and the Holding Company, and The Harbinger Complex at the Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco
Wes Wilson · Fillmore Auditorium · April 1967

Howlin’ Wolf, Big Brother and the Holding Company

Bill Graham Presents BG-60, printed by Creative Lithograph Co., for a three-night run (April 21–23, 1967) pairing Chicago blues legend Howlin’ Wolf with the rising San Francisco band Big Brother and the Holding Company — fronted by Janis Joplin — and the lesser-known Harbinger Complex. Wilson’s languid Art Nouveau female figure, her flowing hair merging into hand-drawn lettering, is a design device indebted to Alphonse Mucha’s fin-de-siècle poster idiom. Impressions are held in the permanent collections of Skidmore College’s Tang Teaching Museum and the Delaware Art Museum; the two institutions’ catalog records disagree on medium (screen print vs. offset lithograph) and give sheet sizes within an inch of each other, a discrepancy noted here rather than resolved without examining this copy directly.

Approximate size: Approximately 233/4–24 × 14 in, per the Tang Teaching Museum and Delaware Art Museum collection records (minor variance between the two institutions’ measurements).

Sources: Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, Skidmore College, “Poster for Howlin’ Wolf, Big Brother and the Holding Company, and The Harbinger Complex, The Fillmore, San Francisco, April 21–23, 1967 (BG-60)”, accessed August 31, 2026; Delaware Art Museum, “Howling Wolf, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Harbinger Complex,” eMuseum, accessed August 31, 2026; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, “Howlin’ Wolf, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Harbinger Complex, April 21–23, Fillmore Auditorium,” FAMSF Collections, accessed August 31, 2026.