playboy: before hef lost his groove

julie newmar in cat like ears backstage

vintage playboy cover from 1968. these were the glory years. this is when every cover showcased the bunny, but somehow hidden in the image, this one is quite obvious but it started a great premise for the magazine as an idea.

playboy club bunnies circa 1960’s

original playboys: dean martin and frank sinatra

the original Playboy Club in 1960’s Chicago is the centerpiece of the playboy club TV show and above trailer. set in 60’s and much like the upcoming pan-am show it’s a coat-tailer to mad men’s success. we’ll see how well it does.

playboy is one of the iconic magazines of the century, and it’s a shame what has become of it these days. magazines like paradis and others tried to emulate the early days of playboy but never as popular or successful as the mag once was. in its early glory days, playboy was much more than just a nudie mag. the clubs were cool, and a place the top liners wanted to be at. it had some of the greatest writers contributing to the magazine and discussing serious progressive issues. it was political, cultural, and it actually had girls you’d want to be with. that changed in the 70’s, and it progressively became worse, where finally it ended up being a truck drivers wet dream. french playboy in the late 90’s-2000 managed to implement a shift and made the french edition a better mag. french playboy used good photographers and models, but somehow in this world of ours; good things don’t sell. it closed down a few years ago leaving us with the horrendous US version. the playboy club TV show that is set to launch this month promises to revamp that era’s image but unfortunately, as displayed at the recent launch of the playboy club in london, the brand’s decay is deeper than imagined. it’s a brand with massive potential and a shame nothing is being done. we need a young hefner in charge. we propose dd for the task ; ) by xy