A Brief History of the Playboy Club

Inspiration
Hugh Hefner started Playboy in 1953, producing the first issue on the kitchen table of his Chicago apartment. Six years later, when the magazine was already a smash hit, the magazine ran an article about an exclusive chain of clubs called the Gaslight Clubs, where customers were served by women in corsets. Inspired by the reader response, Playboy's promotions director, Victor Lownes, recommended to Hefner that Playboy start it's own exclusive club. Here, partygoers in the 1950s celebrate the opening of a new Gaslight Club branch.

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