Santa Venetia Armory 12/29/66

Many consider this ultra-rare poster to be the "holy grail" of Grateful dead posters and we cannot argue. The Santa Venetia National Guard Armory was located about 2 miles north of San Rafael at 155 Madison Avenue and was used as a venue for a small series of concerts held in 1966-1967. Most of the posters produced for the armory were the scarce boxing style such as the one listed here but there were also a few made in a more psychedelic fashion. These boxing style posters were printed by Tilghman Press in Oakland in a distinctive style that was highlighted by the use of the split fountain inking across the letterforms. As with the early Globe posters that were printed in Baltimore, very few Tilghman Press posters exist today for a couple of reasons - first, they were printed in extremely small quantities for small venues and second, rock poster collecting did not become popular until the Bill Graham and Family Dog series came into being so almost none were saved.

The original poster is printed on think cardboard and measures approximately 15¼" x 23"

We also note that a fake poster exists that puports to have been from this same date. The central photograph is certainly a giveaway as it is a very famous image taken by Gene Anthony in 1967 (well after the concert took place) of the Dead in front of 710 Ashbury - complete with Garcia in an Uncle Sam top hat.