Playboy Club - History

History

The first Playboy Club opened in Chicago in 1960, and later there were clubs in New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Detroit, San Francisco, Boston, Des Moines, Kansas City, and St. Louis. There were Playboy Club resorts in Jamaica, New Jersey, and elsewhere. The last American location before Playboy Club Las Vegas opened was Lansing, Michigan, located in the Hilton Hotel, which closed in 1988. International Clubs existed until the 1991 closing of the Manila, Philippines Club located in the Silahis International Hotel. Now, International Clubs again exist with locations in Macao and Cancun. Manila was the only Club ever to be featured in Architectural Digest. During the last three months of 1961, more than 132,000 people visited the Chicago club, making it the busiest night club in the world. Playboy Club membership became a status symbol. Only 21% of all key holders ever went to a club. At $25.00 per year per membership, Playboy earned $25 million for every 1,000,000 members. This revenue stream was critical to the development of the Playboy empire.

The Rabbit-headed metal Playboy key (supplanted by a plastic key-card in 1966) was required for admission to a club. They were presented to the Door Bunny. Through most of the years, a strict dress code was enforced.

In 1965, Hugh Hefner sent Victor Lownes to London to open Playboy's British casinos, following legalization of gambling in the United Kingdom. Gaming income from these casinos enabled Playboy to continue throwing money at financially disastrous clubs, theaters, resorts, record companies, and film investments. The magazine's income was modest compared to that from these casinos. In 1981, the casino at 45 Park Lane was the most profitable casino in the world, and the British casinos contributed $32 million to the corporation. Playboy showed a total profit of $31 million that year, meaning the rest of the empire made a net loss of $1 million. However, in that year, Victor Lownes was fired, and gambling licenses were not renewed, thereby cutting off Playboy's biggest source of income and creating a financial crisis that would only be solved by enormous changes within the empire.

The Playboy Club in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin had a ski slope and was one of the first to install a chair lift. The Lighter Side Trio entertained at all of the Playboy Clubs from 1972-1975, led by Joe DiPietro, with Douglas Brett and Charles Raimond.

On October 6, 2006, Playboy officially opened a new Playboy Club in Las Vegas, Nevada. The new club at The Palms, with its very noticeable neon bunny head, has casinos, bars, and a restroom with pictures of Playmates on the walls. The club, however, closed in June 2012.

Australian women were invited to Sydney to audition for the iconic Playboy Bunny role and for positions as singers and dancers at the Playboy Club. A minimum of five women will be chosen to travel to Macao for a six month contract as a Playboy Bunny. The Macao Playboy Club opened on November 24, 2010.

In October 2010 it was officially announced that a new Playboy Club in London was to be opened on the site of the old Rendezvous Mayfair Casino 14 Old Park Lane. It was opened on June 4, 2011. The 17,000sq ft property spread over two floors has been designed by London-based architects Jestico + Whiles. The club features a casino, cigar terrace, gentleman's tonic, sports bar ("The Player's Lounge"), night club ("The Cottontail Lounge"), cocktail bar under the direction of Salvatore Calabrase, and a fine dining restaurant under the reins of Iron Chef Judy Joo. Along the stair-walls, a row of lenticular portraits are hung winking and smiling at guests as they walk by.

While the ("The Cottontail Lounge") has closed in August 2012, it has re-opened in October 2012 as "baroque" by the son of Salvatore Calabrese, Gerry Calabrese. The building itself has undergone extensive refurbishment to be transformed into a sumptuous space which oozes luxury. The decor is sophisticated and extravagant; featuring golds, ruby reds, magenta pinks, heavy drapes, Louis XIV chairs and antique mirrors. Baroque is finished to the highest possible standard with an undeniably theatrical, flamboyant atmosphere. The round cabaret-style tables, designed by CID Interiors, sport crisp white tablecloths from which guests are served.

In November 2012, Playboy (PB) Lifestyle chief Sanjay Gupta announced that Playboy would open its first club in India. The first club will open in Candolim Beach, Goa in December 2012. It will be 22,000 square feet (2,000 m2) and will be the first beach location for Playboy globally. The next clubs will open in Hyderabad and Mumbai. PB Lifestyle is an Indian firm with rights to the Playboy brand. They plan to set up 8 Playboy Clubs over three years and have 120 clubs, bars and cafes in 10 years. The fashion bars and cafes will target a wider, younger audience. Entry into clubs will be through membership only. Applicant must fall under the A1 segment of the Socio Economic Classification (SEC) system. PB Lifestyle will adapt the Playboy brand to suit India's obscenity laws which ban material deemed "lascivious or appealing to prurient interests". Under the same laws, Playboy and other adult magazines are banned. Designer Tohini Tadikonda has altered the original Playboy Bunnies uniform to suit Indian law and social norms.