“Forgotten Hollywood”- Just in Time for Easter…
Manny P. here…
“`Playboy Bunnies, with rabbit tails, corsets, and ears, will soon be back in business in New York City. Three decades after the original Playboy Club closed in Manhattan, a victim of changing American tastes and views on women, a new venue will debut later this year, blocks from Times Square.
“`The club on West 42nd St. will be one of the chic spots in the world. It will have a lounge, restaurant, game room, and of course.. Bunnies with new outfits. Other Playboy clubs are already operating in London, the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi, and several locations in India. Plus, another is set to open in Shanghai. It will be in the Cachet Boutique New York Hotel, replacing a gay-themed Out Hotel that closed last year.
“`Playboy founder Hugh Hefner (left) opened the first club in Chicago in 1960. He quickly expanded the operation to 30 clubs around the world. A chance to leer at Bunnies was not the only attraction. Clubs also featured musicians and other entertainers. New York’s venue opened on E 59th St., between 5th and Madison Ave. in 1962. The following year, feminist Gloria Steinem worked as an undercover Bunny, and wrote an expose for Show Magazine entitled A Bunny’s Tale. Among her revelations: Pay was lousy, male customers propositioned the female staff, and she was told to get a gynecological exam, and take a test for venereal disease, before she was hired.
“`The original clubs remained popular and lucrative for decades, before faltering in the 1980s. Bunnies Go From Risque to Passe, read a Los Angeles Times headline in 1986, the year the SoCal club closed, as did the New York locale. The original clubs were all defunct by 1991.
“`Changing mores have altered Playboy Magazine, too, lately. The magazine, still sold in 23 nations, no longer allows full nudity in the United States edition; favoring instead, articles and related images. Cooper Hefner, 25-year-old son of 90-year-old Hugh, is now its chief officer.
“`Some industry experts say there may also be marketing appeal among millennials, and fans of Mad Men, the television show set in the Manhattan. The new luxury hotel will provide 107 rooms. This is a partnership between Playboy Enterprises, Cachet Hospitality Group, and Merchants Hospitality.
“` If the club opens as scheduled, it will be in a city that began the year with thousands of women taking to the streets to protest the presidency of Donald Trump; partly, because of remarks he made that were perceived as chauvinistic. It’s expected to open later this year.
“`Hold that thought…
Until next time> “never forget”
This entry was posted on Monday, February 6th, 2017 at 8:21 pm and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.
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