by 
The Billiken Club
Sept. 30, 2008
Archives & Manuscripts in the Saint Louis University Libraries Special Collections is pleased to announce the acquisition of a virtually complete run of posters created for SLU’s Billiken Club by the Firecracker Press of St. Louis, MO. Produced between 2006 and 2011, these posters advertised bands and singers who performed in the Busch Student Center’s Billiken Club, one of the region’s hottest music venues, which featured many artists who would later go on to become big names. This new collection captures and documents an exciting period in the university’s student cultural life and the local St. Louis music scene. The posters themselves, printed as color woodcuts, are graphically striking and, once put up, were often stolen for their artwork, as much as for concert souvenirs. They are outstanding examples of the vibrant letterpress printing and printmaking industry that has emerged in St. Louis over the past ten years, concentrated on Cherokee Street and led by the Firecracker Press.
An exhibition of these posters is planned for September 2013. This acquisition was made possible through funds generously provided by the Saint Louis University Library Associates. Please contact Timothy P. Achee, Associate University Archivist, if you have any questions about this collection.
