Merry Pranksters

A communal band that drove Furthur across America in 1964 to blow minds rather than buildings.

The Merry Pranksters were followers of American author Ken Kesey who lived communally at his homes in California and Oregon. They are best known for a lengthy road trip taken in the summer of 1964, traveling across the United States in a psychedelic painted school bus called Furthur. During this journey, they organized parties and distributed LSD while meeting many guiding lights of the 1960s cultural movement. Their activities heralded what are commonly thought of as hippies, characterized by tie-dyed clothing and a renunciation of mainstream society, which they dubbed The Establishment.

Quick Facts

Key figures

Ken Kesey
Neal Cassady
Carolyn Adams

Origin location

La Honda, California

Primary activity

Psychedelic road trips and parties

Lore & Background

The core group of 14 people who became the 'Merry Band of Pranksters' set off eastward on June 17, 1964, from Kesey's ranch in La Honda, California. The trip originally aimed to celebrate the publication of Kesey's novel Sometimes a Great Notion and visit the 1964 World's Fair in New York City, stopping to visit novelist Larry McMurtry in Houston along the way. Ken Babbs later suggested the name originated when he declared himself 'the intrepid traveller' leading his 'merry band of pranksters across the nation,' with a motto of 'the obliteration of the entire nation,' clarifying they meant to 'blow their minds' rather than blow up buildings. The group included Kesey, driver Neal Cassady, and members like John Babbs, Jane Burton, Sandy Lehmann-Haupt, Paul Foster, Mike Hagen, George Walker, Steve Lambrecht, Chuck Kesey, Dale Kesey, and Linda Breen, a 14-year-old runaway who joined in Canada.

Reader's Guide

Beyond the bus trip, the group maintained relationships with the Hells Angels, whom Kesey introduced to LSD. These events were chronicled by Tom Wolfe in his 1968 book The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test and documented by Lee Quarnstrom in his 2014 memoir When I Was a Dynamiter. Notable associates included Stewart Brand, Wavy Gravy, Paul Krassner, Del Close, and the Warlocks (later known as the Grateful Dead). In 1969, Furthur and the Pranksters attended both the Woodstock rock festival and the Texas Pop Festival in Lewisville, Texas. The original bus was pulled from a swamp at Kesey's Oregon farm in November 2005 by Zane Kesey and family for restoration after Kesey refused to sell it to the Smithsonian Institution. Kesey died of liver cancer complications in November 2001, followed by a memorial hosted by Ken Babbs on December 10, 2003, at the McDonald Theatre in Eugene, Oregon.

Did You Know?

Linda Breen, a 14-year-old runaway, hopped on the bus in Canada during the original 1964 cross-country trip.
Neal Cassady was described by Robert Stone as the 'world's greatest driver' who could roll a joint while backing a Packard onto the Grand Canyon's lip.
The Merry Pranksters introduced LSD to the Hells Angels, a relationship documented in Hunter S. Thompson's book Hell's Angels.