A former editor offers a Playgirl postmortem

Playgirl magazine had a good 35-year run—a longer lifespan than most publications these days—before yesterday's announcement that the print publication would be shuttered.

Originally dubbed "The Magazine for Women," Playgirl started out confident (dare I say cocksure? You bet I do), and it made perfect sense within the women's lib, consciousness-raising milieu of the 1970s. However, the flagship of women's pornography went strong only for about the first 10 years; after that it faltered with an identity crisis spanning two decades that was ultimately to prove terminal.

Yes, Playgirl was once a contender, with headquarters in Los Angeles and advertising offices in six other U.S. and two Canadian cities. Issues were about 150 pages, many of those packed with dense text, with a proportionate number of ads (record and tape clubs, perfume, cigarettes, a few small vibrator—er—"massager" ads in the back).

A playgirl of the 1970s could have dressed from head to Cutex-painted toe in pink-and-white Playgirl licensed gear: sun visors, owl-eye sunglasses(!), logo necklaces, baseball tees, short gym shorts. There were Playgirl jigsaw puzzles, Playgirl flexi-disc records (with the voices of your favorite hunks!), and a videotape cashing in on the aerobics craze, called Hunkercize. In 1975, there was a Playgirl hotline to answer sex questions, and in 1983, a Dial-a-Centerfold hotline.

As for the men in those earlier issues, they were nude, but it was generally a classy kind of nude, with a lot of shadows, and yes, a lot of body hair. (Perhaps also a man-perm or 10.) At first, there were only about one or two models in each issue. Although Playgirl was infamous for featuring male nudity—the final frontier!—the nudes weren't the only focus of the magazine, not by a long shot. Believe it or not, the letters section of those early issues featured thoughtful responses to articles about abortion, addiction, and the ERA.