When the young team of Alton Kelley and Stanley Mouse worked on this, their first poster for the Grateful Dead, the Dead were still recently re-named, and their spelling not fixed in the artists' minds. What was a limited-run spelling error in '66, however, turned into gold for collectors; think numismatist and a U.S. Mint quarter emblazoned with 'In God We Tryst.'
The 1st printing was printed on white vellum before the concert. "The Bindweed Press" notation appears in the bottom margin, and it measures 13 13/16" x 20". A wider variant also exists, which measures 14 1/4" x 20".
The post-concert 3rd printing is 14 1/8" x 20 1/2" on uncoated index. The Bindweed Press credit is missing, and instead "No.22-3" is in the lower right corner and "(c) Family Dog Productions 1725 Washington Street San Francisco" is in the lower left corner.
No edition of FD022 with the "No.22-2" designation has been found, leading to the assumption that there was no official second printing.
Born in Detroit, Stanley Miller became known as "Mouse" after illustrating countless notebooks with his signature rodent sketch. Miller found an outlet for his creativity in pin-striping cars and airbrushing hot rod designs on posters and T-shirts. Mouse migrated to San Francisco in 1964, where he first met the artists associated with Family Dog, the organization producing dance concerts at the Avalon Ballroom. With collaborator Alton Kelley, Mouse experimented broadly with composition, lettering and imagery: Kelley came up with the ideas and Mouse executed the designs. Mouse and Kelley helped to establish the psychedelic style of expression under the name Mouse Studios.