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was the first underground paper to have an extensive classified ad section carrying explicit personal sex advertisements. Ultimately about a third of the paper was occupied by various forms of sexual advertising: as well as the personals there were ads for X-rated films, pornographic bookstores, mail
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may have been the only underground newspaper of which this could be said), Scherr sold the paper for $ 200,000 to Allan Coult, a professor of anthropology. The deal fell apart shortly afterwards and Scherr resumed ownership, cancelling the agreement after Coult failed to make the initial payment. At
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truck would arrive from the printer, pulling up to the paper's offices. The waiting street vendors would help unload the papers. The papers would be purchased at half-price or obtained for collateral. The vendor who wished to obtain papers on collateral would show Scherr something of value. As soon
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coffee house was guaranteed sales of up to 25 papers. The vendor kept half of the money, so when that bundle of papers was sold, they would return to the office, buy back the collateral and possibly buy more papers with cash, and then return to the street corner to sell more papers. The cost of
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then", Paul
Glusman said, "so Albert cooked up a hoax, getting a letter mailed from Japan to the paper reporting that all the Buddhist kids in Japan were converting to Judaism". Scherr ran the letter.
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order novelties and classifieds for models and massage, all both gay and straight. Photos of nude models spilled over into the news section. The formula of radical politics and sex worked, and the
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283:, which soon claimed a circulation of 53,000 copies. Meanwhile, Scherr, who had locked the doors and then taken the files and equipment out of his own offices, continued publishing the
439:, Berkeley, on the south side of campus), locals, runaways, and later street people. The paper originally sold for 10 cents and later for 25 cents. Every Thursday night around 9 pm, a
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In 1969, under pressure from an underpaid and rebellious staff which believed, based primarily on information from an accountant, that Scherr was making windfall profits (the
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this point almost all of the 40 person staff, including managing editor James A. Schreiber, walked out and formed the "Red
Mountain Tribe". After putting out a special
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as their papers were in hand, vendors would go and spend the night waiting on a curb so that no other vendor would steal their spot. The first vendor to get to
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article on illicit drugs by Donald Louria, MD, noted in passing, that "banana scrapings, provide— if anything—a mild psychedelic experience". The
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was caught up in the general downward trend, with contributor burnout and slowly falling circulation and ad revenues leading to a vicious circle of decline.
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374:", with its lyric "Electrical banana/Is gonna be a sudden craze". The hoax was believed and spread through the mainstream press, and was perpetuated after
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out of new offices with a new staff. The paper continued to be successful for a few years but the heyday of the underground press was passing. The
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In March 1967, Scherr, hoping to trick authorities into banning bananas, ran a satirical story which claimed that dried banana skins contained "
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In 1978, with circulation down to 20,000 copies and dropping, the numerous sex ads were spun off into a separate publication,
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in New York City) ran into resistance from staff, readers and local authorities; female staffers and supporters from the
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was one of the top-selling underground papers in the nation. Efforts to clone this formula in other cities (e.g.
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tried to put out a special "Sex" issue, women staffers stole the mock-ups and page layouts and burned them.
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substance which, when smoked, supposedly induced a psychedelic high similar to opium and psilocybin. The
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to successfully block publication of a proposed spin-off sex paper, and when male staffers at
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was itself subjected to hoaxes. At a memorial for the social activist and founder of the
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went out of business within a year and a half. The final issue was dated July 3, 1980.
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was used to earn money by scores of
Berkeley's early hippies, denizens of "The Ave" (
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Blinded by the lyrics: behind the lines of rock and roll's most baffling songs
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carried a great deal of political news, mainly concerning opposition to the
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392:(FDA) investigated and concluded that banana skins were not psychedelic.
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669:"Sex, Drugs, Revolution: 50 Years On, Barbarians Gather to Recall The
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Uncovering the
Sixties: The Life and Times of the Underground Press
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living was low, so sales of the paper kept homeless people afloat.
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The
Pirates and the Mouse: Disney's War Against The Underground
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in 1965; and later featuring the work of cartoonists such as
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Alternative weekly newspapers published in the United States
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One victim of an Albert prank was Max Scherr, editor of the
497:"Max Scherr, Radical Founder Of The Berkeley Barb in 60's"
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List of underground newspapers of the 1960s counterculture
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Louria, Donald (1967), "Cool Talk About Hot Drugs".
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issue, they launched their own rival newspaper, the
718:Newspapers published in the San Francisco Bay Area
652:"Comrades recall Stew Albert" by Richard Brenneman
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222:and activist political events surrounding the
207:The newspaper was founded in August 1965 by
586:Storming Heaven: LSD and the American Dream
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738:Defunct newspapers published in California
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171:newspapers, covering such subjects as the
763:Weekly newspapers published in California
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562:"Joel Beck: Underground comic artist",
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320:was one of the first papers to print
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308:ceased publication in October 2005.
753:Publications disestablished in 1980
542:XXX: A Woman's Right to Pornography
483:(Fantagraphics Books, 2003), p. 41.
255:staged a sit-in at San Francisco's
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34:, vol. 5, no. 9 (1967), depicting
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704:on Independent Voices website
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350:Banana skins and other hoaxes
16:1965-80 underground newspaper
588:. Grove Press. p. 336.
390:Food and Drug Administration
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733:Counterculture of the 1960s
640:The New York Times Magazine
519:(New York: Pantheon, 1985).
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146:http://www.berkeleybarb.net
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346:" beginning in 1976).
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161:underground newspaper
66:Alternative newspaper
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114:Berkeley, California
677:California Magazine
609:Brent Mann (2005).
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297:Spectator Magazine
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101:Ceased publication
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758:Underground press
613:. Citadel Press.
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322:underground comix
312:Underground comix
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110:Headquarters
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405:Stew Albert
220:Vietnam War
121:Circulation
95:August 1965
38:dressed as
712:Categories
467:References
441:Volkswagen
356:bananadine
262:Good Times
209:Max Scherr
86:Max Scherr
76:Max Scherr
72:Founder(s)
513:Peck, Abe
326:Joel Beck
136:0005-9161
82:Publisher
569:Archived
545:Archived
455:See also
426:The Barb
417:Buddhism
230:and the
694:website
447:The Pic
401:Yippies
368:Donovan
191:History
142:Website
92:Founded
62:Tabloid
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58:Format
615:ISBN
590:ISBN
433:Barb
431:The
397:Barb
395:The
384:. A
364:Barb
338:and
318:Barb
316:The
302:Barb
289:Barb
285:Barb
270:Barb
241:Barb
236:Barb
216:Barb
214:The
175:and
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131:ISSN
105:1980
48:Type
493:UPI
328:'s
246:Rat
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