Disneyland for Adults

Multiplying like Rabbits, the six U.S. Playboy clubs will soon be twelve, and the bunnies prepare to hop overseas

When time Magazine reported that Playboy Club keys were "the closest thing to a phi Beta Kappa from Yale," we earnestly hoped that members of that venerable academic society didn't think we were competing. Far from it, we consider the pleasures unlocked by a Playboy key to be anything but academic.

Similarly, we reluctantly take issue with many of the Clubs' admirers who regard the key as primarily a status symbol. Quite the contrary: While membership in "the world's most distinguished key club" (Direct Mail Magazine) is undoubtedly prestigious, any status accrued is purely secondary to the very real (as opposed to symbolic) benefits of belonging. These (text continued on page 166) include the fellowship of educated and urbane companions, the solicitous presence of the most beautiful club girls in the world, relaxation in sophisticated and decorous surroundings, epicurean edibles and potables at modest prices, and superior entertainment.

Judging by a recent survey of the Playboy Club keyholder, he's not the type of person who needs symbols of status. Seventy-five percent of our members are either company presidents, vice-presidents, managers, sales managers or professionals, while an additional eight percent own their own businesses. Eighty-four percent have completed college and the median annual income of all keyholders is just under $20,000. Status seekers? Hardly. Status holders, yes; trend setters, assuredly; taste makers, certainly: Keyholders share all this in common, as well as the fact that only they and their guests can be admitted to Playboy Clubs throughout the world.

When Publisher-President Hugh M. Hefner first conceived the Club concept as a fun-filled oasis from the toils of the workday world, drawing its personality from the pages of Playboy, he didn't realize that the Clubs would be described as "20th Century Dreamworlds" (Variety) or "Gaudy and titillating lands of make-believe" (Newsweek). Curiously, the common denominator of both praise and criticism of the Clubs is this evocation of a dream world, to which Hefner replies, "It would be a sad and empty world without any dreams. Of course there is a certain amount of make-believe connected to The Playboy Club -- there is with all of the entertainment world: When a keyholder comes into Playboy, his name goes up on the members' nameplate board and from that moment on he is king. It's his own club and everyone -- from bus boys to Bunnies -- from floor managers to entertainers -- helps to make him feel at home (whether he's in The Playboy Club in New York or the Philippines) and they do their best to see that he has the time of his life while he and his guests are with us." Perhaps what these commentators are groping for is an explanation for the most spectacular night-club phenomenon of our generation, that has grown from the nucleus of an idea a little more than three years ago to a 250,000-member operation with six swinging Playboy Clubs already in existence in key cities across the U. S. and immediate plans for nine more, plus projected Clubs for every major city in the country and most of the capitals of the world.

Newsweek was the first to dub The Playboy Clubs a "Disneyland for Adults" and it is a particularly apt title. The famous children's amusement area incorporates suggestions of fantasy, but the entertainment is very real, making Disneyland virtually a dream come true. More significant, in relation to The Playboy Club concept, this youngsters' paradise provides such a wide variety of entertainment that a visitor can keep himself amused from opening to closing time without leaving the premises. The same is true, on an adult level, of The Playboy Clubs; for in the tasteful surroundings of each, the male member (stag or accompanied) is offered a complete evening of sophisticated entertainment, unruffled relaxation in his very own club, music, variety, laughter, the eye-filling presence of Playboy's own Bunnies, and excellent, reasonably priced food and drink (a complete dinner is the same price as the man-sized drinks -- and any drink in the house, from the finest Scotch to a champagne cocktail, is $1.50). The keyholder can even add an appetizing lunch to his Playboy Club day, cocktails in the afternoon, and a late-night Breakfast Buffet and Celebrity Party, with the twisting Bunnies.

The elements of variety are most clearly discernible in the diversity of rooms in each Club. The keyholder can relax in the elegant and comfortable environment of the Playmate Bar, Living Room, Cartoon Corner and Piano Bar; he can be entertained in the Playroom and Penthouse -- usually there is a different show in each, timed so that the member can see both within two hours.

The Playboy Clubs' newest addition is the candlelit VIP Room (for Very Important Playboys). Here, in a small but stately room, elegantly decorated in opulent shades of deep blue and contrasting silver, a haute-cuisine 10-course dinner is served in resplendent china, silver service and crystal glassware by liveried butlers and velvet-adorned bilingual Bunnies. The gastronomic delights of the VIP Room are, understandably, the only exception to the flat $1.50 food policy: dinner costs $12.50, with lunches or midnight suppers available at prices varying from $5.50 to $7.50. Seating in these intimate salons is limited to 35 in Chicago and 50 in New York (so far, the only Clubs that have VIP Rooms), which means that reservations must be made in advance.

In addition to the diversity of the rooms, the variety of entertainment at each Club helps enhance the "Disneyland" feeling. While most night spots feature a show, the Clubs normally put on a minimum of two three-act performances each evening (except in Phoenix, where there is no Playroom at present). "The Playboy Circuit," as reported in Life, "is one of the nation's most important talent incubators," and a full roster of entertainers supplies fresh shows to the showrooms every two weeks. As a result of its extensive scouting system and a policy of introducing the best of the nation's talented newcomers, The Playboy Club has become known, in show business circles, as the night-club star maker, introducing such previously unknown entertainers as Dick Gregory, Jerry Van Dyke, Johnny Janis, Jackie Gayle, Ray Kirby and the Danny Apolinar Trio to stardom. Barbra Streisand, the night-club sensation of the season, was under contract to play The Playboy Club Circuit a full year ago.

Many members regard the ubiquitous Bunnies (Playboy, July 1963) as the Clubs' greatest entertainment. The Bunnies smile, beguile, serve, sing and dance, check hats and coats, manage Playboy Club Gift Shops, welcome members at the door, lock cue sticks with keyholders in diverting games of bumper pool, take souvenir photographs of, and with, the patrons and, by their very pulchritudinous presence, help to make evenings spent at The Playboy Club unforgettable experiences. The New York Journal-American's description of the Playboy Bunnies is flattering--"They're just plain girls...except for their curves, beautiful faces and charming manner"--but incomplete. The Bunnies combine the whole-someness of airline stewardesses, the glamor of showgirls, and the warm efficiency of hostesses at a swinging house party.

While all the Clubs, present and future, share the common denominator of atmosphere, entertainment and Bunnies, none of them has been extruded through a cookie cutter: each has its own stamp of individuality, as typified by the newest Club, Phoenix (opened to members in December 1962). Located atop the Mayer-Central building, it's an authentic penthouse, and members, while dining in glass-enclosed rooms or strolling on the outdoor terrace, enjoy a panoramic view of the city.

The St. Louis Club was linked to the key chain in September 1962. A series of pyramids form a porte-cochere for key-holders who enter at 3914 Lindell Blvd., and one of the first sights to greet their eyes in the magnificent lobby is a view, behind the transparent wall, of a traditional Japanese garden exquisitely illuminated by a finely sculptured fountain. Also unique to the St. Louis Club is a Playpen, with seating for 12, suspended over the Playmate Bar. Bob Goddard, columnist for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, has described the Club's multilevel decor as "Early Fabulous." "I don't like to use the word 'classy' any more than I can help," writes Goddard, "but let's face it, the St. Louis Club is class with a capital C."

(concluded on page 226)Disneyland for Adults(continued from page 166)

The Chicago Club (116 E. Walton St.), opened to members in February 1960, is the prototype of all the Clubs and shares with the New York Club the distinction of having one of the two VIP Rooms. The Miami Club (opened May 1961), located on a palm-studded 40,000-square-foot estate at 7701 Biscayne Blvd., has its own private docking facilities. The New Orleans Club (opened October 1961), set in the heart of the French Quarter at 727 Rue Iberville, just off Bourbon Street, maintains the Crescent City's old-world tradition with its decor of crystal chandeliers, shuttered windows, fountains and slate floors. From one a.m. till the we hours, a Dixieland band keeps this Club jumping. The elegantly and elaborately appointed New York Club (opened December 1962), set in the heart of Gotham's swank café-society section at 5 East 59th St., is the world's most lavish night club. The Club once again will be the exclusive domain of its members, as a recent court ruling (pending appeal) has established that facilities may be restricted to keyholders only.

So much for the past and present. As for the future, Art Buchwald, commenting on Playboy in his column, wrote: "Today girls, tomorrow the world." He wasn't kidding, although columnist Bert Bacharach, writing in the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, was pulling someone's rabbit-foot when he archly inquired, "Will there be a branch of The Playboy Club in Bunny Falls, Arizona?"

No, Bert. Bunny Falls, despite its charming name, hardly fits our requirements for urbanity, but rest assured that, within the foreseeable future, the Playboy key will open Club doors in virtually every part of this country, as well as major cities around the world.

Our first international Bunny hop will take place late this year, when the Manila Playboy Club will be opened to keyholders. Located in the penthouse of the E. L. Katigbak Building on Mabini St., the Club will provide a magnificent view of Manila Bay. Members from any part of the world will be given the red-carpet treatment by specially trained Bunnies chosen from our domestic warren, and keyholders will enjoy, in addition to the regular Club menu, exquisite selections of exotic local delicacies. Unique to the Manila Club will be a series of four private rooms, available for small banquets and business meetings.

The next international Club will be in Toronto and should be ready by the middle of next year. Sites are currently being surveyed in London, Paris, Rome and other major European cities, and Playboy Clubs are also planned for Mexico City, Honolulu, Tokyo, San Juan and many of the major cities of South America.

The most spectacular of the domestic Clubs, scheduled for early 1965, will be in Los Angeles. The "Disneyland" concept will be carried to its ultimate extreme here for, in addition to the Club facilities, the $10,000,000 Los Angeles complex will include a swank hotel, office suites, swimming pool, shopping arcade, barbershop, health club, cabanas, private banquet and conference rooms. Almost half of the hotel's 200 rooms will be in the luxury class, and many of these will be the last word in lavishness, with bilevel living room--bedroom accommodations, masculine walnut decor, built-in wardrobe facilities, hi-fi and bars. (Key-holder Danny Kaye has already reserved a permanent suite for business guests.) The entertainment section of the Hollywood Club will include a Living Room, Playmate Bar (complete with underwater window for a better view of bikinied Bunnies swimming in the pool), VIP Room, Playroom, Playpen with Piano Bar and, high atop the 10-story hotel tower, a glass-enclosed Penthouse showroom, with the most breath-taking view of the city in all of Los Angeles. The Cartoon Corner will be expanded to include an all-night coffeeshop for stay-up-laters and there will be a heliport on the roof for easy transportation to and from the Los Angeles Airport.

San Francisco will have the first Playboy Club for California members, however; patterned after the swinging Clubs in Chicago and St. Louis, but with an additional elegance all its own, the San Francisco Club facilities will be ready this spring. Other key cities scheduled to receive Playboy Clubs within the next few months: Detroit, Baltimore, Boston, Atlanta and Kansas City; negotiations are presently under way for Clubs in Minneapolis and Washington, D.C., by late in the coming year. Prospects for a Playboy Club Ski Lodge in the East and a year-round Playboy Club Resort in Nevada are being investigated; plans are also being developed for a Playboy Club Barber Shop, Steam Bath and Men's Shop, adjacent to the Chicago Club.

In the not too distant future, members will be able to enjoy the warm welcome of familiar Playboy Club surroundings in almost any major city to which they travel -- both here and abroad. But the expanding Club facilities are just a part of the exciting news for Playboy Club members: Starting next month, keyholders will begin receiving an entertaining new magazine, VIP -- The Playboy Club Magazine, with all manner of features, news and information about the Clubs, new plans and innovations, stories on the Bunnies (including a regular Bunny of the month pictorial), show business personalities who are playing the Playboy Club Circuit, and the members themselves. The Playboy Club is also introducing a Credit Card for all keyholders (in addition to the official silver membership key) that will not only be more convenient to carry, and facilitate more efficient and accurate taking of orders in the Clubs, but will soon be a valuable source of additional credit for our members -- for hotel accommodations in Playboy Club cities, international travel, the purchase of Playboy Products, gifts, etc.

Membership in The Playboy Club is growing increasingly valuable, but Charter Membership in many areas is still only $25 (the Standard Membership is $50 -- though present plans call for increasing it to $100 in the Chicago area in the near future and elsewhere later). To help pay for the continuing Playboy Club expansion, an annual Service Charge of $5, comparable to that charged by all of the major credit-card companies, will be introduced after the first of the year.

Because of the special success of the St. Louis Playboy Club, which is a franchise owned by nearly 100 of the St. Louis members, and in order to permit a more rapid expansion of the Playboy Club operation on a world-wide basis, Publisher-President Hugh M. Hefner has announced plans to again make a limited number of Club franchises available to responsible members of the business and professional community in certain cities. (Club franchises were originally granted for a brief period when Playboy Clubs International first commenced operation in 1960, but were discontinued soon after it became apparent how extraordinarily successful the Clubs were becoming.) Hefner indicates that franchises will not be granted to individuals or small groups, except as a nucleus -- potentially representing a large number of the professional and business men in any city, dramatically demonstrating the real interest that a particular community has in the early arrival of a Playboy Club there. In this way, the cities whose men of means and influence are most interested in having their own Playboy Club, and most apt to strongly support it once it is there, will be the first to have the Clubs.

For further information on membership, franchises, or any other aspect of The Playboy Club operation, write Playboy Clubs International, Inc., Playboy Building, 232 E. Ohio Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611.