Furthur was a school bus converted by Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters to facilitate their trip from San Francisco, CA to New York to attend the publication party for Kesey's second novel Sometimes a Great Notion in 1964. Kesey purchased the bus from Andre Hobson of Atherton, CA for $1250, who had already outfitted the bus with bunks, a working bathroom, and a kitchen for use in taking his 11 children on vacation. The Pranksters added a sound system and mounted a generator on the back, painting the bus in a psychedelic swirl of colors.
The Pranksters planned to film their adventures during the cross country tip for a film project, but the footage and audio tapes of the trip were kept private until 2011's Magic Trip documentary. Kesey and fellow Prankster Ken Babbs spent years editing the footage and routinely premiered cuts of the film to friends at parties that eventually evolved into the Pranksters' famed mixed-media art extravaganzas called Acid Tests. Tom Wolfe used the Furthur footage and audio as a reference for his 1968 work of New Journalism The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. Source
The Pranksters[]
Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters were a group of artists, activists, and free-thinkers who used a confrontational art style that combined psychedelic visuals with satirical social commentary. Members of the pranksters present on the bus included:
- Ken Kesey - Chief/Captain Flag/Swashbuckler
- Ken Babbs - Intrepid Traveler
- John Babbs - Sometimes Missing
- Ron Bevirt - Hassler
- Steve Lambrecht - Zonker
- Jane Burton - Generally Famished
- Cathy Casamo - Beauty Witch/Stark Naked
- Neal Cassady - Speed Limit
- Mike Hagen - Mal Function
- Chuck Kesey - Brother Charlie
- Dale Kesey - Highly Charged
- Sandy Lehmann-Haupt - Dis-Mount
- Paula Sundsten - Gretchen Fetchin
- George Walker - Hardly Visible
The First Trip[]
In June of 1964, Kesey recruited legendary Beat figure Neal Cassady to drive the Pranksters from San Francisco, CA to New York for the launch of his book Sometimes a Great Notion. The journey got off to a rocky start when the bus stalled in Kesey's front yard from running out of gas. It took the pranksters 24 hours to travel their first 40 miles. They later got the bus stuck in the Arizona River outside of Phoenix in what is now known as the Wikieup Incident.
Cassady drove most of the trip, and despite being under the influence of cannabis, speed, and LSD and being pulled over by police multiple times, the Pranksters were able to complete their trip unimpeded by law enforcement due mostly to their tidy haircuts and Cassady's ability to talk his way out of trouble.
Cathy Casamo & Neal Cassady
Before the trip, the Pranksters converted the top of the bus into a performance stage from which they would perform improvisational music and interact with onlookers. Several of the Pranksters did not complete the journey, dropping off the bus due to fatigue and the overwhelming nature of the Prankster drug culture. Most notably, Cathy Casamo, or Stark Naked, who was reported as a missing person before being taken in by law enforcement.
When the Pranksters arrived in New York, Cassady introduced Kesey and his group to their literary heroes Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. While Kerouac was less-than enamored with the Pranksters, Ginsberg became a fast ally of the group and offered to introduce them to former Harvard Psychologist and psychedelic pioneer Timothy Leary at his Castalia Foundation in Millbrook, NY. This meeting was also less-than successful, as Leary later described the Pranksters as "a bad fraternity prank."
Furthur's final journey ended in San Fancisco in 1966 at an event called The Trips Festival, a festival meant to be the culmination of the Merry Pranksters' legendary Acid Test parties. Kesey was arrested when the Trips Festival was cut short and spent time as a fugitive in Mexico avoiding drug charges before turning himself in. Source
The Final Trip[]
Inside Furthur
Furthur rode one final time in 1969 when the Pranksters, with Kesey absent, drove the bus to Upstate New York to attend the Woodstock Music Festival. When the Pranksters returned from Woodstock, Kesey officially disbanded the group, ordering them to vacate his property entirely.
Furthur remained on Kesey's property to be used as a farm vehicle. The bus eventually decayed into disrepair. The bus is currently in the possession of the Furthur Down the Road Foundation, who seeks to raise donations to be put toward the repair of the bus. Source
Pranks[]
A Vote for Barry[]
In Phoenix, the pranksters painted "A Vote for Barry is a Vote for Fun" on the side of the bus and drove backwards through the downtown area of Phoenix, prompting a confused reaction from Barry Goldwater's presidential campaign office. Source
Smithsonian Prank[]
While creating the second Furthur bus, Kesey allowed the media to cover the launch of the new bus under the mistaken impression that he was renovating the old bus for donation to the Smithsonian. Media outlets followed Kesey in the new bus for over a week before learning that it was not the original Furthur bus. Source
Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test & Magic Trip[]
The two defining artifacts that remain of the Furthur bus are Tom Wolfe's iconic work of New Journalism The Electric Kool-aid Acid Test and 2011's Magic Trip, a documentary filmed compiled from the Prankster's original footage and audio recordings of the original Furthur trip. Wolfe's book has become a defining artifact of the hippie generation.