Signboard, Pass the Acid Test

Object Details

Date made
1960s
user
Kesey, Ken
Description
In the mid-1960s, novelist and counterculture guru Ken Kesey used this 38" x 68" plywood sign as an announcement board and invitation card to promote the activities of his "Merry Pranksters" (an itinerant band of free thinkers) during their memorable cross-country rides on an old bus named "Further." Kesey and his band drove Further from northern California to Washington, D.C., and New York, ostensibly to attend Kesey book parties. In the process they used the bus rides to encourage people to discuss anything with them, to try anything, to perform civic pranks of various sorts, and to otherwise call attention to alternative ways of thinking about the issues of the day.
Like the bus, the sign is a colorful smorgasbord of offerings from the Pranksters and visitors to the bus. Splashes of day–glo paint are overlaid with newspaper clippings, political cartoons, doodles, yarn, and the names of influential West Coast figures from the counterculture movements of the 1950s and 1960s. During a 1992 visit to the Kesey farm in rural Oregon to examine the remains of Further, the Smithsonian found this signboard in the loft of a chicken coop, covered with dust and feathers. A family of foxes occupied the rear seat of Further, moldering in a field, so Kesey decided to donate this sign instead of the bus.
See more items in
Culture and the Arts: Entertainment
Cultures & Communities
Advertising
Exhibition
Entertainment Nation
Exhibition Location
National Museum of American History
Credit Line
Gift of Ken Kesey
Data Source
National Museum of American History
ID Number
1992.0413.01
accession number
1992.0413
catalog number
1992.0413.01
Object Name
sign
collage
Physical Description
plywood (overall material)
paper (overall material)
paint (overall material)
adhesive (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 68 in x 38 in x 2 in; 172.72 cm x 96.52 cm x 5.08 cm
Metadata Usage
CC0
GUID
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746ab-8214-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
Record ID
nmah_1275835
Signboard used by Ken Kesey to advertise events with the Merry Pranksters, 'Can You Pass the Acid Test?', front view
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
View manifest View in Mirador Viewer
Signboard used by Ken Kesey to advertise events with the Merry Pranksters, 'Can You Pass the Acid Test?', front view
Signboard used by Ken Kesey to advertise events with the Merry Pranksters, 'Can You Pass the Acid Test?', front view
Signboard used by Ken Kesey to advertise events with the Merry Pranksters, 'Can You Pass the Acid Test?', front view. Object photographed under black lights.
Signboard used by Ken Kesey to advertise events with the Merry Pranksters, 'Can You Pass the Acid Test?', back view. Copyright Ronald K. Bevirt.
Signboard used by Ken Kesey to advertise events with the Merry Pranksters, 'Can You Pass the Acid Test?', back view. Object photographed under black lights. Copyright Ronald K. Bevirt.
Signboard used by Ken Kesey to advertise events with the Merry Pranksters, 'Can You Pass the Acid Test?', front view
Signboard used by Ken Kesey to advertise events with the Merry Pranksters, 'Can You Pass the Acid Test?', back view. Copyright Ronald K. Bevirt.
Signboard used by Ken Kesey to advertise events with the Merry Pranksters, 'Can You Pass the Acid Test?', front view
Signboard used by Ken Kesey to advertise events with the Merry Pranksters, 'Can You Pass the Acid Test?', front view