Once upon a time, Playboy was a respectable publication. It featured interviews with distinguished minds and offered a hip jet-set aesthetic to gentlemen of the Cold War; sure there were pictures of naked dames therein, but they were tasteful, not tacky. There was a Playboy television program which highlighted jazz acts, and there was the Playboy Club – a place respectable enough to take a date.
The Playboy Club was a culture unto itself. I recommend you check out The Playboy Club Bunny Manual 1968-69 and Celebs and Common Folk Among Playboy Bunnies: 30 Vintage Photos for a feel for what it was like before things got tasteless, and went belly-up. In addition to all the perks that came with being an esteemed member of the Playboy Club, you also could get a subscription to their quarterly magazine, VIP. Let’s have a look at the covers of a few of these issues through the years…
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