Monterey International Pop Festival 6/16-18/67

The Monterey Pop Festival, held June 16-18, was one of the high-water marks in the music scene for the year 1967. It is estimated that 55,000 people attended, with perhaps as many as 90,000 present at the event’s peak at midnight on Sunday. The Monterey Pop Festival featured the first major American appearances by Jimi Hendrix and The Who, and one of the first major public performances by an up-and-coming singer named Janis Joplin. The influence of the Monterey Pop Festival is unquestioned and it is generally regarded as one of the beginnings to the “Summer of Love” in 1967.

The central image is a c. 1906 photograph of Maud Allan as Salomé, in her production, Vision of Salomé. Allan’s Salomé costume, which she designed herself, delighted many and shocked others. Some people were so offended that they saw the show twice, to get the details right for their letters to the editor. The brevity of the outfit, combined with Miss Allan’s barefoot twirling, held audiences spellbound.

Posters for the festival were produced in two sizes and all were printed at Western Lithograph in Los Angeles, which was owned by Tom Woods and Syd Hirsch. The large-size posters were used for advertising and posted around the area, so most have some tape and tack hole damage. The foil paper used for the production of these posters is highly susceptible to damage and most extant copies have creasing and other problems.

The Type 1 Original poster was printed on foil stock and measures approximately 19" x 35"

The Type 2 Original poster was printed on foil stock and measures approximately 12 ¼"  x 21 ⅜". These have a Tom Wilkes credit in the upper right border and have a ticket outlet strip at the bottom.

The second print poster was printed in 1992 on foil stock and measures approximately 11 ½" x 19 ½". These have a  ©1967/1992 Tom Wilkes  credit in the lower right border and do not have a ticket outlet strip. These were printed by the artist and used for the 25th Anniversary of the Festival.