PLAYBOY CLUB

'The Playboy Clubs' were a chain of nightclubs owned and operated by Playboy Enterprises until 1991 with the first club opening at 116 E. Walton in downtown Chicago on February 29, 1960. The clubs were essentially bars with entertainment featuring Playboy Bunnies serving drinks to keyholders and performances by some big names in entertainment.

Contents

History

Famous acts

Playboy Clubs in popular culture

Current locations

Former Locations

North America

Europe

Asia

External links

History

The first Playboy Club opened in Chicago, Illinois in 1960. The last American location was Lansing, Michigan, which closed in 1988. International Clubs existed until the 1991 closing of the location in Manila, Philippines. Manila was the only Club ever featured in ''Architectual 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 membership, Playboy earned $25 million for every 1,000,000 members. This revenue stream was critical to the development of the Playboy empire.
In 1965 Hugh Hefner sent Victor Lownes to London to open Playboy's British casinos following legalization of gambling in the United Kingdom. These soon became the tail that wagged the dog. 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 dollars to the corporation. That year Playboy showed a total profit of $31 million 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.
In fact the Playboy Club in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, had a ski slope and was one of the first to install a chair lift.
Playboy recently 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 bathroom with pictures of Playmates all over the walls to give detail and pleasure all through their visit.

Famous acts

Famous entertainers who performed at the clubs include:

★ Steve Allen

★ Milton Berle

★ Sid Caesar

★ George Carlin

★ Ray Charles

★ Bill Cosby

★ The Count Basie Orchestra

★ Dizzy Gillespie

★ Bob Hope

★ Peggy Lee

★ Ann-Margret

★ Steve Martin

★ Bette Midler

★ Ginger Rogers

★ Mike Ryan

★ The Smothers Brothers

★ Mel Tormé

★ Muddy Waters

Playboy Clubs in popular culture

★ The film ''Hefner; an Unauthorized Biography'' largely focuses on leotarded women being trained as hostesses in a Playboy Club.

★ In the James Bond film ''Diamonds Are Forever'', it is revealed that Bond is a member of the London Playboy Club.

★ A ''Trivial Pursuit'' question asked "Which country still had four Playboy Clubs in operation after the last one closed down in the United States?" Answer: Japan.

Current locations

★ The Playboy Club in Las Vegas, Nevada

Former Locations

North America

★ Atlanta, Georgia

★ Atlantic City, New Jersey

★ Baltimore, Maryland

★ Boston, Massachusetts

★ Buffalo, New York

★ Chicago, Illinois

★ Cincinnati, Ohio

★ Columbus, Ohio

★ Dallas, Texas

★ Denver, Colorado

★ Des Moines, Iowa

★ Detroit, Michigan

★ Great Gorge, New Jersey

★ Kansas City, Missouri

★ Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

★ Lansing, Michigan

★ Los Angeles, California

★ Miami, Florida

★ Montreal, Quebec

★ Nassau, Bahamas

★ New Orleans, Louisiana

★ New York, New York

★ Omaha, Nebraska

★ Phoenix, Arizona

★ St. Louis, Missouri

★ St. Petersburg, Florida

★ San Diego, California

★ San Francisco, California

Europe

★ London, England

★ Manchester, England

★ Portsmouth, England

Asia

★ Beirut, Lebanon

★ Manila, Philippines

★ Nagoya, Japan

★ Osaka, Japan

★ Sapporo, Japan

★ Tokyo, Japan
Playboy also owned resorts in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin and Ocho Rios, Jamaica.

External links

★ Playboy Club Memoriam Page

★ Playboy Club (Las Vegas)