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The Acid Tests were a series of psychedelic
Psychedelic

The word 'psychedelic' is an English term coined from the Greek language words for "soul," ???? , and "manifest," d???? . A psychedelic experience is characterized by the perception of aspects of one's mind previously unknown, or by the creative exuberance of the mind liberated from its ostensibly ordinary fetters....
 parties held by Ken Kesey
Ken Kesey

Kenneth Elton Kesey was an United States author, best known for his novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest , and as a counter-cultural figure who, some consider , was a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s....
 in the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area

The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, or the Bay, is a metropolitan region that surrounds the San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay Bays in Northern California....
  during the early to mid 1960's, centered entirely around the use, experimentation, and advocacy of LSD
LSD

Lysergic acid diethylamide, LSD, LSD-25, or acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family. Its unusual psychological effects, which include visuals of colored patterns behind the eyes in the mind, a sense of time distorting, and crawling geometric patterns, have made it one of the most widely known psyched...
, also known as "acid."

The name "Acid Test" was coined by Kesey, after the term "acid test
Acid test (gold)

An acid test for gold was used during the California Gold Rush of the 1850s by gold seekers and gold traders to quickly and incontestably find whether a given metal, excavated or found, was gold or a mere base metal....
" used by gold miners in the 1850s. He advertised the parties with posters that read, "Can YOU Pass The Acid Test?", and the name was later popularized in Tom Wolfe's
Tom Wolfe

Thomas Kennerly Wolfe, Jr. , known as Tom Wolfe, is a best-selling United States author and journalist. He is one of the founders of the New Journalism movement of the 1960s and 1970s....
 1968 book, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test

The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test is a work of literary journalism by Tom Wolfe, published in 1968. Using techniques from the genre of hysterical realism and pioneering new journalism, he tells the story of Ken Kesey and his band of Merry Pranksters as they drive across the country in a Blacklight paint painted school bus dubbed "Furthur,"...
.






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The Acid Tests were a series of psychedelic
Psychedelic

The word 'psychedelic' is an English term coined from the Greek language words for "soul," ???? , and "manifest," d???? . A psychedelic experience is characterized by the perception of aspects of one's mind previously unknown, or by the creative exuberance of the mind liberated from its ostensibly ordinary fetters....
 parties held by Ken Kesey
Ken Kesey

Kenneth Elton Kesey was an United States author, best known for his novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest , and as a counter-cultural figure who, some consider , was a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s....
 in the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area

The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, or the Bay, is a metropolitan region that surrounds the San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay Bays in Northern California....
  during the early to mid 1960's, centered entirely around the use, experimentation, and advocacy of LSD
LSD

Lysergic acid diethylamide, LSD, LSD-25, or acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family. Its unusual psychological effects, which include visuals of colored patterns behind the eyes in the mind, a sense of time distorting, and crawling geometric patterns, have made it one of the most widely known psyched...
, also known as "acid."

The name "Acid Test" was coined by Kesey, after the term "acid test
Acid test (gold)

An acid test for gold was used during the California Gold Rush of the 1850s by gold seekers and gold traders to quickly and incontestably find whether a given metal, excavated or found, was gold or a mere base metal....
" used by gold miners in the 1850s. He advertised the parties with posters that read, "Can YOU Pass The Acid Test?", and the name was later popularized in Tom Wolfe's
Tom Wolfe

Thomas Kennerly Wolfe, Jr. , known as Tom Wolfe, is a best-selling United States author and journalist. He is one of the founders of the New Journalism movement of the 1960s and 1970s....
 1968 book, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test

The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test is a work of literary journalism by Tom Wolfe, published in 1968. Using techniques from the genre of hysterical realism and pioneering new journalism, he tells the story of Ken Kesey and his band of Merry Pranksters as they drive across the country in a Blacklight paint painted school bus dubbed "Furthur,"...
. Musical performances by the Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead

The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of Rock music, Folk music, bluegrass music, blues, reggae, country music, jazz, Psychedelic rock, space rock and gospel music?and for live performances of long musical improvisati...
 were commonplace, along with black light
Black light

File:Ultraviolet.svgA Black light or UV Light is a lamp emitting electromagnetic radiation that is almost exclusively in the soft ultraviolet range, and emits very little Optical spectrum....
s, strobe light
Strobe light

Strobe light or stroboscopic lamp, commonly called a strobe, is a device used to produce regular flashes of light. It is one of a number of devices that can be used as a stroboscope....
s, and fluorescent paint
Blacklight paint

Blacklight ink or blacklight-reactive Ink is ink that glows under a black light, a source of light whose wavelengths are primarily in the ultraviolet....
. The Acid Tests are notable for their influence on the LSD-based counterculture of the San Francisco area and subsequent transition from the beat generation
Beat generation

The Beat Generation is a term used to describe a group of American writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, and also the cultural phenomena that they wrote about and inspired ....
 to the hippie
Hippie

The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the early 1960s and spread around the world. The word hippie derives from hipster , and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district....
 movement.

See also

  • Ken Kesey
    Ken Kesey

    Kenneth Elton Kesey was an United States author, best known for his novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest , and as a counter-cultural figure who, some consider , was a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s....
  • Merry Pranksters
    Merry Pranksters

    The Merry Pranksters were a group of people who formed around United States author Ken Kesey in 1964 and sometimes lived Commune at his homes in California and Oregon....