I recently had a gander at the Playboy online store, and was surprised to see a rather skimpy array of the usual yawn-inducing branded products...t-shirts, mugs, and fragrances. From what I recently found on Flickr, branded Playboy products from the 1960s were a little more interesting. All but one of the following ads were uploaded by the user classic_film. Hugh Hefner himself may want to take a look back for inspiration on juicing up his magazine's product line. Let's take a look at some of the items Playboy made and marketed to its readers back in the day...
C'mon baby, light my fire. And that is one big ass lighter! Her eyelashes could get singed! Definitely not intended to be portable, but think of how comic it would be to pull one of these jumbo babies out when someone needed a light. It's a good thing that it "operates on a standard sized flint." Keep an extinguisher handy...
I can appreciate that these sweaters were made of 100% virgin worsted wool (the only thing that's a virgin in the photo) because by the 80s, so many sweaters were being made of acrylic, a cheap substitute for the real thing. It's interesting that Playboy Club keyholders could simply charge to their accounts by giving the key number with their order.
No sweater? No problem. Just sew this bunny logo patch onto your jacket, your bag, the rear end of your jeans, etc.
This is probably the most unique and valuable item that Playboy ever sold. The Femlins were cartooned figures created by LeRoy Neiman in 1955 when Hugh Hefner wanted the Party Jokes section of the magazine to be adorned with an amusing creative element. Their name is a cross between "female" and "gremlin" and they also apparently prefer to cover up every part of their body except for the private ones! In the early 1960s these naughty figurines would set you back only $25, but today they are worth a LOT of smackers--a seller I found online was asking between $6,000 and $9,000 for his full set. A seller on eBay is asking nearly $2,000 for just one. Throughout the years, the femlins have adorned mugs, candles, books, shotglasses and playing cards, and still appear in the magazine.
Playboy jewelry...earrings, cuff links, bracelets and a tie tack. Such simple trinkets, but why they're no longer offered in the product line (well, except for the tie tack) is beyond me.
The smell of sex, in a bottle.
Well, this is one item that hasn't make a comeback, at least not yet. I published a post a few years ago on the popularity of pipe smoking in the 50s and 60s and while I'm not a fan of smoking, I must admit that pipes as a wardrobe element are kind of cool (my father smoked one, so maybe that has something to do with it.) By the time this ad was published, pipe customers were no longer limited to grandfathers in rocking chairs; the average American male was shown in many ads featuring unrelated products, perhaps to enhance the masculinity. Since Hefner loved his pipes during this time, it only makes sense that Playboy would issue its own.
