This cover is modeled after the Beatles “Sargent Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.”
Acid Express was a publication written in the late 1960s which referred to individuals who partake in mind-opening drugs. The authors of the publication aimed to aid the Gettysburg community in understanding the effects of mind opening drugs such as LSD. The magazine presented these drugs and the experiences they induce as positive and almost spiritual. Some articles and stories discuss the finding of the self and the understanding of larger questions of the universe. I could not find any information regarding the administration’s reaction to the publication so it is likely that they either did not know or did not think it a great concern. The authors were of course anonymous and would use pen names to protect their identity.
This cover pictures the Buddha. This was a period in which heretofore rejected religions in the West grew in popularity.
The publication of Acid Express is important for a few reasons. The postmodern era marked an increase in the use of drugs such as LSD and the culture that surrounds the ingestion of this drug is often what people think about when they consider the postmodern era. Acid Express is proof that this culture existed at Gettysburg College. We do not know how common this culture was, but the existence of Acid Express shows that at least a group of students thought it was important enough to discuss. The publication is not only important simply for the fact that it exists, however. It is also important because of what they wrote. The articles speak of the self and concepts such as self-awareness. This a common theme throughout the postmodern era
The fact that this publication was created under pen names and in secret is important as well. This protest behavior was also characteristic of the postmodern era. The authors must have known that the administration would not have approved of them creating this magazine, yet they created it anyway.
The Acid Express Artwork
This drawing shows the disregard for authority that the authors of this publication exhibited.
The Acid Express
This is one of the covers for the Acid Express.
This drawing attempts to demonstrate the feeling of apathy that many were worried about at Gettysburg during the years this magazine was published. This individual looks lost and alone in a desolate wasteland, without any passion in life.
The style of this drawing has many influences from postmodern art. Upon looking at it, one is immediately reminded of artists such as the Beatles and the hippie movement.
The small excerpt on the top of the page is dipped heavily in moral relativism saying that people should be able to choose their own “bags.” The cartoon at the bottom is reminiscent of the love movement that happened during the postmodern period where everyone was called to simple love without judgement.
The peace sign is an enduring symbol from the postmodern era which the creators of Acid Express clearly employed.
This abstract artwork titled “The Ground of Being” shows the importance of figuring out our existence to those who adhered to the ideals of the postmodern philosophy.
The Acid Express Poetry
“On the Rug” describes feelings of being lost and confused in a crowd and of searching for understanding of the self. The author writes, “I stare in dumb bewilderment questioning in my own mind, Where am I?”
The first poem here discusses a disbelief in all that society deems important. The second poem speaks of a journey that the writer takes alone by drinking absinthe.
These are some poems written for “The Acid Express.” The poem in the middle deals with feelings of doubt while the first poem deals with questions of absurdity and possibility. The quote at the bottom of the page insists that tripping on acid is an experience that is easier to relate one’s existence to.
“Here” has a line that says “A cast of men caught in their emptiness cage.” These feelings of emptiness came from an increase in the popularity of existential thought during this era.
The Acid Express Articles and Editorials
This cartoon pictures a women on which different humans rest. The words in green on the side, “Love, peace of mind, acceptance, realization, and open mind” are sentiments that were very important and enduring in the postmodern era.
This article describes the affects that culture has on individual lives and how we are both beneficiaries and victims of culture. Looking critically at society and culture was an important aspect of the postmodern.
This writer of this article was concerned that the school was far too strict with their students and watched over them far too much. They believed that this was something that should make people sick. This rejection of authority is a characteristic of the postmodern era.
This page shares thoughts about the true reason for this publication. Some of these are very focused on being and the self. The statement “The outside is merely a projection of inner perception. Knock and it shall be open unto you” is particularly attached to postmodern conceptions of the self.
The end of this article discusses that it is a pity that so many Gettysburg students are so focused on beer that they would not look for other forms of entertainment such as drugs. The author sees this as a form of conformity, a conformity that the postmodern age rejected.
This article has touches of questions of the self in terms of the experience of tripping on LSD. The author uses the phrase, “my inner self as projected on the film of experience.”
This editorial discusses the role that Acid Express had played in the community thus far. The writer insists that while the students have accepted the magazine, the administration was unhappy with it. The writer goes on to share explicitly what the purposes for the publication are.
This page attempts to explain that Acid Express is meant to create a meaningful dialogue surrounding the topics of mind altering drugs.
All editions of The Acid Express may be found at Special Collections on the fourth floor of Musselman Library at Gettysburg College. They are in box R 3.25 entitled Student Protest Publications.
