The San Francisco

Oracle
By Sally Zimmerman
History Aesthetics
Mainstream vs Alternative
Press in the 60s

How the San Francisco

Oracle Came to be
By Sally Zimmerman In the late sixties, a vibrant, colorful, a newspaper that would be full of poetry
musical and drug-induced countercul- and prose on rebellion, mainstream op-
The 1960s in America were a time for ture was in full-force in San Francisco, position, rock n’ roll music, drugs and
radical change and numerous uprisings specifically the Haight-Ashbury. LSD, abstract painting. Brothers Ron and Jay
that sprung out of movements taking marijuana and really any other type of Thelin contributed money to the startup
place all over the country. “Social move- drug you can think of were being used in of the paper to make it a reality. The first
ments” as Bob Ostertag calls them in his large quantities and were thought to alter issue of the San Francisco Oracle came out
book “People’s Movements, People’s Press,” people’s minds in a positive manner. Allen in September 1966. By the eighth edition,
sought to “promote ideas, not profits” Cohen, the editor of the San Francisco Cohen described the paper as mostly self-
(Ostertag, 2006, p. 3). The underground Oracle during its most lively period, stated sustaining. “The paper was able to pay the
and alternative press played a huge role in in his editor notes in the facsimile edition rent and food costs for most of the staff,
assisting these social movements as they of the newspaper that there was a “deeper many of whom were living together in
gained more and more support for their revolution” that was “being nurtured in several small communes” (Cohen, 1991, p.
radical and vastly different way of think- the Haight based on the visionary and xxxiii). This seemed to be satisfying to the
ing. The mainstream press just simply was mind-expanding experiences with LSD, staff of the San Francisco Oracle, as Cohen
In the first edition, some of out” of society. Because of the San Francisco Oracle, you stream paper of the time.
not getting the job done when it came to the cooperative living environment and also said, “It wasn’t difficult in 1966 to
the main goals of the paper are these mindsets, it was decided can see it is extremely different Compare it to the front
the coverage of events and people that the exuberance of youth. These poets and work occasionally, sell marijuana or LSD
stated as letting “word merge early on that the San Francisco from the first page of the LA page of the eleventh edition of
society wanted to know the truth on. artists envisioned a revolution of love and intermittently, and thereby earn a living
with photography and illustra- Oracle would not take on the Times from June 1967. The LA the San Francisco Oracle and
So, they turned to the underground and peace starting in the Haight and engulfing for oneself and friends” (Cohen, 1991, p.
tion in an organic form of layout of a normal newspa- Times first page, first and fore- you can see the differences
alternative press for the whole truth, not the whole planet” (Cohen, 1991, p. xxvii). xxvi). The circulation for the San Fran-
graphic communication” and per. The staff agreed that the most, contains a good amount immediately. The Oracle was
just bits and pieces thrown together by The paper was meant to be an inspira- cisco Oracle began to take off as it gained
using the paper to “create an “newspaper format was one of of text. It has images of a focused on its artwork and
editors. The underground and alternative tion, a statement of free love and peace popularity. The fourth edition of the paper
open voice for those involved the vehicles of the oppression protest and Lyndon B. John- graphics whereas a main-
press used their papers to promote their if people were able to identify with the sold 15,000 copies; the seventh edition
in a ‘life of art.’” Furthermore, and materialism of the past” son, normal columns of text stream paper from the time
viewpoints and ideology on the things “Universal Self.” sold 125,000 and the estimated circulation
the first issue really encour- and that the column form of regarding typical news stories was more focused on content
they thought mattered. These papers usu- In the summer of 1966, a small group by the twelfth edition of the paper was
aged its readers to consider a a newspaper had “lockstep at the time and references to and front-page news. Another
ally had a loyal following of readers with of people began to attend meetings to 500,000. This paper also wasn’t confined to
lifestyle free of adhering to so- military-industrial rigidity” the weather and sports. All in great difference that can be
the same philosophy as the paper. The San discuss possibly starting a newspaper in San Francisco. Its circulation was spread
cietal norms. Essentially, they (Cohen, 1991, p. xxvii). Just all, the first page of this paper seen is the Oracle’s use of
Francisco Oracle was no different. the Haight-Ashbury. These people wanted all over the world.
wanted their readers to “drop by glancing at the first page of reflects a traditional main- color.
Aesthetics Aesthetics

Oracle Stresses An

Importance of Color Abundance

of Doodles
“Wings, rays, auras, ara-
besques, swirls, unicorns, and
centaurs, mandalas, collages,
flying saucers and their in-
habitants, op-art, flowers and
paisley, nudes, feathers, and
ghosted images were interwo-
ven into a dazzling cross-cul-
tural spectacle of multidimen-
sional depth, pattern and flow.”
(Cohen, 1991, p. xxxiii)

This wasn’t something author” movement. Whereas them to design a page for it,
that was limited to the front a mainstream paper has the not merely to illustrate it, but
page. The Oracle used color goal of delivering the news to make an organic unity of
throughout the entirety of its and accompanying images, the word and the image. Most
papers. the San Francisco Oracle of the artists would conceive “The media is
They believed that the wanted to deliver graphics and manifest their designs in
media was the message and
therefore, the illustrations
and illustrations with accom-
panying text.
a state of expanded aware-
ness” (Cohen, 1991, p. xxxiii).
the message.”
and graphics done by their When discussing the aes- Simply put, the illustrations
staffers were basically the thetics of the Oracle, Cohen were more important than
“news” that the San Fran- said, “To achieve the oracular the text in the San Francisco
cisco Oracle was displaying effects we wanted we would Oracle. Throughout the pages,
in its newspapers. The Oracle give the text, whether prose small doodles filled space or
was part of the “death to the or poetry, to artists and ask were drawn into the margins.
Spirituality & Drugs Design

Spirituality in the Oracle Oracle #5 A Turning Point

After the “aesthetic redirection” by surrounding the article seems hectic and his training in yoga and his spirituality
new art director Gabe Katz, the San cluttered, with a few nonsense images to withstand the pain he was enduring.
Francisco Oracle began its plunge into thrown in, so as to say the Buddhism This article shows how the staffers of the
vibrant spreads and full pages devoted that is being written about is nonsensi- Oracle had a firm belief in the suffering
to spirituality. Gary Snyder wrote the cal. The points of this article are reiter- and ignorance caused by social factors
centerfold of the third Oracle, entitled ated in another article from the fourth mentioned in the Buddhism article.
“Buddhism and the Coming Revolution.” Oracle, titled “Yogi and the Commisar.” These two separate articles demonstrate
In the article, Snyder criticizes Buddhism This article detailed one Oracle artist, how the San Francisco Oracle revolved
for its lack of “analysis of how suffering Allan Williams, and the beating he en- around strong spiritual beliefs and the
and ignorance are caused by social fac- dured from the police for violating cur- power these people believed these things
tors” (Cohen, 1991, p. xxix). The collage few. Williams talked about how he used had over them.

The fifth edition of the work, articles and poetry.

San Francisco Oracle, called The center spread was used
the “Human Be-In Issue” especially for a central
established “the basic for- theme or important poem,
mat that the paper was to and always received a lavish
develop for the next seven design” (Cohen, 1991, p.
issues” (Cohen, 1991, p. xxxiii). This issue is when
xxxiii). Cohen describes shaped columns (instead of
the basic layout the San straight columns) become
Francisco Oracle now took the norm. Cohen stated,
on: “The first four and last “from here on all resem-
four pages and the center blances to an ordinary
spread were the head, feet newspaper were purely
and spine of the Oracle and coincidental” (Cohen, 1991,
were used for major art p. xxxiii).
Spirituality & Drugs Downfall

Dr. Mota’s Medicine The Oracle’s Expiration Date

Show Bus

The last issue of the paper, factors played into the demise Oracle and the peace and love had already dreamed” (Cohen,
“Symposium 2000 AD & the of the San Francisco Oracle. revolution as a whole. Cohen 1991, p. lii). These numerous
Fall,” ran in February 1968. In The mayor of San Francisco at writes that the Black Panthers reasons for the paper’s down-
all, twelve issues of the paper the time, Joseph Alioto, “hated “had made self-defense the fall show how the social and
were released over a span of the Hippies” (Cohen, 1991, p. priority for revolution instead political events of the time
seventeen months. Both the lii) as it was rumored he was of non-violence” (Cohen, really took their toll on the
cover of this issue and the being withheld from the vice 1991, p. lii). Because of this, Oracle. They tried so hard to
“Tree of Death” illustration presidency of the Democratic more people in the area started create a paper that had noth-
were said to be symbolic of Party because he was being carrying guns. This coincided ing to do with current events
In the sixth issue of the Oracle, an This medicine show bus was a portrayal illustrations and graphics around drugs, the “fragility and exhaustion scrutinized for losing control with increased violence in the or actual news. Ironically, I
illustration by John Phillips called “Dr. of the Oracle’s attitude toward drugs and as they truly believed these were the of the vision” (Cohen, 1991, p. of his city. Because of this, he streets because of hard drugs. believe that if the Oracle had
Mota’s Medicine Show Bus” appears. how they saw them as “medicines for the gateway to being “cured” of societal pres- lii). Cohen writes about how increased security and police The originators of the paper been more in-tune with what
The drawing is supposed to resemble sick spirit of western civilization that was sures and the only way to achieve peace. the counterculture had been forces in the area, which didn’t also felt they needed rejuvena- was going on in San Francisco
an old, broken down bus and has signs suffering from the disease of alienation, This particular illustration is very telling under attack from both local sit well with the counterculture tion, and left San Francisco to and the U.S. at the time, they
all over it saying “Cannabis Cure All,” and the domination and destruction of how openly and lovingly the people of and national authorities for movement. The Black Pan- find it. When they returned, could have maybe created a
“Mushroom Magic,” “Cactus Therapy,” of nature” (Cohen, 1991, p. xxxix). The Haight-Ashbury proclaimed their beliefs quite some time by that point. thers were also credited in the Cohen says most of them “felt strategy to keep the paper in
“Peyote Practice,” “Dope Inc.” and more. Oracle revolved a good amount of their in the healing powers of drugs. Besides this, a number of other downfall of the San Francisco it was time to act out what we existence.
Conclusion Sources

Counterculture in a Cohen, A. (1991). The San Francisco Oracle – Facsimile Edition. Berkeley, CA: Regent Press.

Didion, J. (1990). Slouching Towards Bethlehem. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

“Social Vacuum” Ostertag, B. (2006). People’s Movements, People’s Press. Boston, MA: Beacon.

The ultimate goal of the this sense, they could not be

San Francisco Oracle was to reasoned with and they sought
start a revolution for peace to rebel solely for the sake
and love in the world. While of rebelling. In the facsimile
their intentions may have been edition of the newspaper, J.M.
true, the execution of this goal Jamil Brownson states that he
was far off-mark. The overall viewed the Oracle “as repre-
immaturity of the newspaper senting a narrow range of the
was partly responsible for its rainbow spectrum in which it
end. In “Slouching Toward was so colorfully printed. The
Bethlehem,” Joan Didion Oracle failed to create a rain-
claimed that there were really bow coalition from a chorus of
no activists in San Francisco voices across the oppositional
in the 1960s. In San Francisco, spectrum.”
Didion claimed that some- What did the San Fran-
thing important was occur- cisco Oracle leave behind? In
ring. “We were seeing the “A Gradual Awakening” by
desperate attempt of a handful Stephen Levine, it is stated
of pathetically unequipped that this publication “will be
children to create a commu- remembered for its extraor-
nity in a social vacuum. Once dinary graphic design” and
we had seen these children, “groundbreaking printing
we could no longer overlook techniques.” In essence, the
the vacuum, no longer pretend images and illustrations from
that the society’s atomization the paper are mesmerizing,
could be reversed” (Didion, but the after-effect of the paper
1990, p. 122). I want to em- doesn’t go much deeper than
phasize the word children, that. There is not much politi-
because that is truly who was cal significance in the paper,
involved in the counterculture and Cohen even says, “Some
of San Francisco at the time. writers have seen an escap-
Didion says these children ist gap between the Oracle’s
are “less in rebellion against point of view and the anti-war
the society than ignorant of movement” (Cohen, 1991, p.
it” (Didion, 1990, p. 123). xxxiv). The staff of the paper
Whereas the staff of the San was focused almost exclusively
Francisco Oracle (and the rest on the design of the paper to
of this counterculture move- have it be unique from other
ment) was attempting to start papers of the time. In doing
a revolution centered on peace, so, they neglected the actual
love and drugs, what they were substance of the paper and put
actually doing was isolating themselves at a disadvantage
themselves from the rest of for becoming a well-known
society, i.e. putting them- (and well-remembered) alter-
selves in a “social vacuum.” In native paper.