For awhile, this poster was a real mystery, and still lacks an origin. Although never seen in books about Woodstock, there seems to be an awful lot of them hanging around...and they're cheap! Many folks think it was printed after Woodstock, but it could also have been a interim promo poster.

Michael Robbins, wrote us saying that he had found his in a flea market. It was supposedly found hanging in an old house in the Bethel, N.Y. area, where it had been framed under glass since the festival in 1969. It is in excellent condition. The owner writes that he doesn't care if it turns out to be worth nothing. It will be re-framed and hung in his home. This time it will bring back all of his "great memories of that whole era".

Who knows, if his is REALLY 30 years old, he could have an original and the ones seen for sale in abundance at the Reunions and at the General Store near the Woodstock site could be re-prints.

Here's what we DO know:

      *  The site is listed as White Lake.
      *  The tickets are the earlier price of $7.00 per day.
      *  It looks like the type of poster (circus colors) used by 
         Bill Graham (of Fillmore East & West fame) and other 
         concerts around New York City during that period.  
      *  It's for sale at a general store on 17b, just up 
         the street from the original site called "The Woodstock
         Emporium". 
      *  It lists bands that never played Woodstock, like Iron 
         Butterfly and Jeff Beck Group, although they were in 
         the original line-up.
      *  It lists a couple of performers who no one's heard 
         of; Jack Harrison and Nick Bones. It could be the 
         names of the poster designers.         
      *  It lists no dates for the concert, just August 1969. 

Who knows, maybe it was an early promo poster that was printed after the concert was changed to White Lake...but before Skolnick could design the now famous Woodstock dove and guitar design.

At any rate, it has been fun trying to determine the origin of this Woodstock Artifact.

UPDATE:

This e-mail message just came into us. It reads:

The poster you have an image on in your Artifacts Page in different from the one I have. Directly below the photos of the Dead and Janis, and above the three rows of performers, is a line that reads: "Music Starts at 4:00 pm on Fri. and 1:00 pm on Sat. & Sun." Also, the name 'Nick Bones' that is referred to is actually 'Nick Benes'. My poster differs in other ways that lead me to believe that it is an 'original edition'. The print quality on my poster is laid out evenly centered and lines do not fall out of place. These are both signs of 'cheap imitations'. And last, but certainly not least, my poster on the bottom left white border contains the name, address and phone number of the company that printed the poster. It reads as follows: TRIBUNE SHOWPRINT, INC.,
EARL PARK, IND.
PHONE 219-474-6061 If someone could confirm or disprove my belief of this poster's originality, or if this information has in any way been helpful in solving the mystery behind this very interesting poster, please feel free to contact me.
Thanks, Jon Paul Slonaker

Back to the past!