Polo Grounds - Golden Gate Park 1/14/67

The Human Be-In took place in Golden Gate Park in January 1967 and ushered in the “Summer of Love” later that year. The Human Be-In is generally considered to be one of the most important events in the hippie/counter culture and featured “All S.F. Rock Groups,” including the Grateful Dead, Big Brother & The Holding Company, Country Joe & The Fish, Quicksilver Messenger Service, as well as Timothy Leary, Allen Ginsberg, and Jerry Rubin. Two different posters and three handbills were made for the event, with this one being designed by Rick Griffin. Another design was produced by Stanley Mouse and Alton Kelley and is known as AOR 2.217.

This was really the second major piece that Griffin produced, with the first being a poster for the Psychedelic Shop in Haight - Ashbury. After seeing this poster, Chet Helms of the Family Dog invited Griffin to design posters for the Avalon Ballroom, and the rest is history. Griffin quickly rose in prominence and is considered by many to be the finest poster artist of the time.

The original poster was printed in black on white vellum stock. All originals measure approximately 14″ x 22″.

The second print poster was printed in blue and red ink on white stock and measures approximately 14″ x 20″.

The third print poster was printed in black ink on white/cream stock and measures approximately 14″ x 20″.

The original handbill was printed on two types of stock - one thin, like most handbills of the era, and one on thicker, more textured stock. Both measure approximately 8″ x 11″. The textured stock is much scarcer than the thin stock.