Owsley "Bear" Stanley | Wardrobe case, for Nudie suits and to hide his creations

Property of Grateful Dead Productions

Owsley "Bear" Stanley

Wardrobe case, used to carry Grateful Dead stage outfits and percussion

Red and black vintage steamer trunk (23 x 28 x 46”), with old Cunard stickers, tape labeled “Hart” on side.

“Big” Steve Parish: “This is a trunk that was Owsley’s, he had a lot of interesting uses for his trunks, like storing his acid stash. We started using this for stage wardrobes, like the Nudie suits. It later became a case for some of Mickey’s drum equipment. The case has a long history with us.”

Owsley famously used an ingenious method for storing his illicit acid and avoid being found in possession of some of the massive quantities that he was manufacturing. He placed large amounts of his LSD in a footlocker that was constantly being sent between Greyhound bus stations in California. The product always in transit and hard for the state authorities to pinpoint at any given time. Owsley would intercept the trunk at a station when he needed to retrieve a portion and send it on to the next stop.