The Blog Blitz is less than 24 hours away!

Starting tomorrow, and continuing through the months of May and June, I will be attempting to add a new post every day.

As you may know the May 68 événements actually began on the night of Friday 3 May, 1968. Unsurprisingly there was  no documentation (posters or tracts) from before that day. So over the next 3 days, in a prelude of sorts,  I will be featuring posters from the other side of the conflict, produced by the pro-Gaullist Comites pour la Defense de la Republique.

From 4 May onwards, my plan is to post a tract (and the occasional poster) from the corresponding day – 48 years ago. In this way hopefully you can get some sense of the events as they unfolded. 

If all goes according to plan, by the end of  June there will 3 times as much content on the blog than at present. As I said in my last post my hope is that by the 50th Anniversary in a few years time my entire collection of posters and tracts will documented and translated into English on this blog.

New Posts Coming Soon – Finally!

It’s been almost a year since the last flurry of posts on this blog. It’s definitely well past time to make up for the lack of activity. 

Well – with the 48th Anniversary of May 68 coming up next week I’ve decided that I will attempt to post an item a day for May & June. So for the next 2 months expect to see many tracts, posters and other material appearing on a (hopefully) daily basis.

I’ve also set myself the goal of having my entire collection documented in this blog by the time of the 50th Anniversary of the événements. So hopefully the next year will see a new lease of life for this project.

Poster – “Vote Anyway, I’ll do the Rest” (June 1968)

  

“Vote Anyway, I’ll do the Rest” (June 1968)

Comité d’Initiative Pour un Mouvement Révolutionnaire

Offset black print on yellow poster paper

56 x 75cm

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Documented in:
Camard #164a, Beaubourg #43, Beauty #71; Gasquet p.54; Beaubourg #43; Peters #231; Paves; Artcurial #532

Online References:
ENSBA #10826 
BNF 
Bienecke: BrSides Folio 2008 180
Zurich – 64-0726

Poster – “(CRS) SS” (May 18 1968)

  

(CRS) SS 

(May 18)

This poster is one of the most iconic from May 1968. The first version produced only had the image of the CRS policeman (drawn by cartoonist Jacques Carelman) on it. This is the later version with the “SS” added to the shield. This refers to the student chant: “CRS SS!”. 

Brown offset on poster paper

32.5 x 50cm

Documented in:
Gasquet p.47; Imagination #5; Beaubourg #7; Peters #12 ; Les Affiches #128; Beauty #163b ; Mesa p29; Murs #82; Dobson #40 ; Paris p114

Online References:
ENSBA # 10682
Bienecke: BrSides Folio 2008 34
Zurich – 28-0225

Poster – “A Youth Who Worries About the Future too Often” (May 25 1968)

  

A Youth Who Worries About the Future too Often 

(May 25 1968)

Purple offset on gloss paper

43cm x 56cm

This is one of my favourite posters from May 68 – and indeed one of my favourite graphic images of all time.
The text is almost a direct qoute from a speech made by de Gaulle on May 24: “the profound troubles, especially amongst the youth, who are concerned about their own role and who worry about the future too often” (“les troubles profonds, surtout dans la jeunesse, qui est soucieuse de son propre rôle et que l’avenir inquiet trop souvent”)

There were at least 3 versions made of this poster – my copy is one of the later offset printed ones (the earlier versions were less graphically less sophisticated and screen-printed).

This image is also famous for inspiring Jaimie Reid in making an early version of the Sex Pistols’ “God Save the Queen” 7″ cover.

  
Documented in:

Gasquet p. 167; Wlassikoff p. 64 ; Dobson #43 ; Les Affiches #203 ; Peters #53;  Beauty #81′ Mesa p43 ; Paris p142

Poster – Cross of Lorraine (June 3 1968, Fac Medicine)

  

Cross of Lorraine 

(3 June 1968, Fac Medicine)


Black screen-print on newsprint

This poster was released just after de Gaulle had announced the election to be held at the end of June.

The Cross of Lorraine (Croix de Lorraine) was the symbol of Free France (the government-in-exile led by Charles de Gaulle) during World War 2, and was retained by de Gaulle after the war as the symbol of his political movement: Gaullism.

So here we have a depiction of the generic French voter with de Gaulle’s symbol screwed right into his brain.

Documented in:

Camard #145; Peters #237; Beauty #146; Beaubourg #71;  Gasquet p.97; Paves; Dobson #67
Online References:
BnF

Zurich – 64-0708

Poster – “The Police Speak to You Every Evening at 8pm” (June 6 1968 – École des Arts Décoratifs)

  

“The Police Speak to You Every Evening at 8pm” (


École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs)
Red screenprint on poster paper

46cm x 62cm

Documented in:
Gasquet p. 122; Beaubourg #63 ;Wlassikoff p. 102 ; Camard #180 ; Imagination #45; Artcurial #354 ; Dobson #83 ; UUU p. 83 ; Peters #186 ; Beauty #82+117b ; Paves ; Mesa p85 ; Murs #103 ; Paris p73

Online References:
ENSBA # 10756, 10757
BNF 
Bienecke: BrSides Folio 2008 37