Avalon Ballroom

What do these pictures, above and below, have in common?

The postcards were found during the renovation of rare books and special collection’s technical services offices. Manufactured by Family Dog Productions, the corporation that managed The Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco, the cards advertise Avalon rock concerts presented from 1966 to 1969.

Our cards announce concerts by the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, the Steve Miller Band, Moby Grape, the Butterfield Blues Band, and Big Brother and the Holding Company, with designs by Rick Griffin, Stanley Mouse, Alton Kelley and Victor Moscoso.

Like our offices, the Avalon’s building was renovated many times and since 1969, has housed a Regency movie theater, American Pacific Linens, Wantful.com (internet startup), and currently, the ad agency Argonaut.


Thanks to Maria Grandinette, Preservation Librarian, who found these cards and other ephemera.