Who’s Laughing Now?

A few nights ago the wife and I were having dinner in downtown Placerville. We were sitting outdoors (as one does these days), watching the strollers stroll and the passersby pass by. Then what to my wond’ring eyes should appear but a bright, shiny sign with a gold, laughing bear.

Attentive readers will recall my mission to track down historic Golden Bear signs. I made a few subsequent discoveries here and here. Had I now stumbled across another one?

Sadly, upon closer inspection, I noted that this Laughing Bear was just an advertisement for another hippy-dippy store selling tie-dyed shirts and all manner of hemp products. For as we all know, The Grateful Dead appropriated the image many years ago as part of their brand.

Now, to be fair, there is an alternative myth that the Grateful Dead’s bear was copied not from the Golden Bear signs, but from a “36 point lead slug” (that is, a piece of old printer’s type). Here is the slug in question:

The story goes that an artist by the name of Bob Thomas found the slug somehow, and used it as an inspiration for the album design of The Dead’s 1973 album, The History of the Grateful Dead, Volume 1 (Bear’s Choice). (“Bear’s Choice” is a reference to Owsley “Bear” Stanley, who was the Dead’s sound engineer and, not incidentally, a major purveyor of LSD. I’m not making this up.)

I’m of the opinion that the “36 point lead slug” may indeed have been Mr. LSD’s inspiration for the album art, but I suspect that the slug itself was designed from the historic Golden Bear logo. It may have been used for Golden Bear advertisements in the newspaper, for example.

Anyway, my point is this: If you need drug paraphernalia, there’s a place next to Bene Italian Restaurant in Placerville. In the meantime, please send me pictures of any authentic Golden Bear signs that you might come across.