A charming, early Sonny and Cher window card for their show in Honolulu, HI on December 3, 1965.

This was the year the duo rocketed to folk-rock and pop-culture icon status with several hits, including the evergreen “I Got You Babe.”

This Sonny & Cher placard was printed in two colors – orange and a brown sepia-tone. The orange color placement is used quite effectively to bring attention to the most important elements (at least in the eyes of the radio station).

No printer’s credit or union bug is present at the bottom, but one can be sure that it was printed in the islands, not the mainland.

The one thing I find missing from KPOI’s Sonny and Cher tour poster is song titles. It would’ve been so cool to have “I Got You Babe” somewhere on there.

Besides that hit, in ’65 they also had hits with “Baby Don’t Go” and “Laugh at Me,” and to a lesser degree, “Just You” and “But You’re Mine.” All were present on the charts before this December show.

It’s funny the way ticket prices aren’t found on this Sonny & Cher broadside, either. There was plenty of room down at the bottom.

Instead, it just says, “All Seats Reserved – Tickets At H.I.C. Box Office.” I guess they weren’t sold at any other location in town? What about throughout the islands?

You have to chuckle at the ‘opening act’ on this Sonny and Cher window display: the “Miss K-Poi Pageant.” Hey, this was the naïve sixties… what’s wrong with a beauty contest?

And the radio station made sure you knew about it, too… it’s the only words in bright orange besides the headliners! (And their own call letters up top.)

It’s cute how the first two words on this particular Sonny & Cher show placard are “Boss Radio.” That was a common radio-station term of the era, and was also used by 93 KHJ Boss Radio in Los Angeles.

But Mr. & Mrs. Bono probably felt right at home, because L.A. is where they lived and heralded from. This gig was probably as much a vacation for the duo as a working trip.

An unusual photo adorns this Sonny and Cher telephone-pole poster. Instead of the standard, posed studio publicity still, it shows the pair laughing candidly, anything but posed.

They’re certainly in their trademark clothes… Sonny in his furry vest, large belt buckle and tennis shoes; Cher with her bell-bottoms and typical purse of the day.

And their canoodling pose is not the only romantic element of this Sonny & Cher window poster; notice the two hearts present… one between their names, the other down below “Honolulu International Center.”

They had been married for two years at this point. She was only 19, and he had reached the then-terrifying age of 30.

Since Cher was such a beauty, it’s sort of surprising that this Sonny and Cher concert sign didn’t use a more straight-on photo of her face, along with that of the charismatic Sonny’s.

But oftentimes, the promoter had no say in what photo was used… that image-making was likely dictated by their management company back in Hollywood, which in turn took direction from the artists themselves.

Notice how this Sonny & Cher street poster touts “One Show Only.” If you lived on the islands, it was this performance or nothing. Back on the mainland, you often had second or third choices.

Even though the start time is given as 7:30 PM, I imagine the duo didn’t hit the stage until 9:00. Maybe there was even a local band playing as an opening act, too.

A lot of pop-culture collectors might covet this Sonny and Cher cardboard poster because folk-rock was experiencing a boom this year; Bob Dylan had gone electric, and The Byrds had exploded on the scene with a cover of his “Mr. Tambourine Man.”

Actually, I use the term “cardboard” loosely; it’s made of more like a card stock, like a manila folder. You can see its thickness as I handle it in this video.

After the 1960s concluded, you don’t see a lot of Sonny & Cher concert advertisements like this; their TV show catapulted them to superstar status, and they shied away from regular concert tours after that.

And then baby Chastity came along, and you can be sure touring took a further back seat as they raised their child.

You might have found a Sonny and Cher street sign in Las Vegas at that point, when they headlined there, but playing city to city across America just wouldn’t be feasible anymore. That’s for the young & unencumbered!

History will note, of course, that Cher went on to perform in concert for over half-a-century going forward. And Sonny would become quite the politician before losing his life in a skiing accident.

So in summation, if you’re looking for a Sonny & Cher concert poster for your collection, you can’t do much better than this one.

I haven’t seen a lot of them in my travels to begin with, but this one has color, a photograph of them, strong eye appeal and a wildly cool location with the state of Hawaii.

This historic piece of Sonny and Cher concert memorabilia is displayed for you with fondness by myself, Peter Howard, and I live in California’s central coast. You can reach me either through pete@postercentral.com or by calling (805) 540-0020. And please keep in mind that I pay the best prices, period, for cool bits of Sixties-era concert memorabilia, especially the advertising stuff like this, and tickets.

And I’ve gotta plug this other page here on my site for a second: To see more outstanding 1960s pop-music concert posters, just click over one page to this: http://www.postercentral.com/rock.htm