That first Playboy

Let me say, right off the bat, that if you are eager to be offended here, please be my guest.

But the plain fact of the matter is, a lot of men my age can clearly remember the contents of the first Playboy or two they got to peruse at leisure. Which was an altogether different experience from sneaking a peak at a copy on the top shelf of a drug store’s magazine rack.

My father would have never considered subscribing to Playboy. No way. And he wouldn’t have brought a copy home.

But my significantly older brother had a more welcoming attitude about this publication. And the covers below are from two issues he somehow acquired and hid (quite poorly) in our shared room.

The magazines, dated 1965 and 1967, were already a little old by the time I began studying them like a Dead Sea Scrolls scholar. But that didn’t deter me from repeated and diligent inspections.

If I had dedicated myself to my schoolwork in similar fashion, well, that’s water under the bridge.

Boys today interested in looking at pictures of young women in danger of catching a chill have countless options, I suppose. But I wouldn’t trade my experience.

After all, it’s true. There really were articles. I’m sure I could recite the interview with the Beatles that’s in the 1965 issue.

I know I certainly memorized a number of other pages.

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