The magazine was published monthly and featured photographs of nude women, and articles on fashion, sport, consumer goods, and public figures. Playmen's use of "tasteful" nude photos is classified as softcore in contrast to hardcorepornographic magazines. It ceased publication in 2001.
Early years
During a running battle with the Italian police, the magazine reached a circulation of 450,000 within four years of its 1967 inception.[2] It sold at about the equivalent of a US dollar per copy.
Playmen was initially an imitator of Playboy magazine, although the first Girl of the Month, Brigitte Bardot, held her hands to cover her breasts.[2]Playmen later developed a style of its own, reflecting European tastes and not overly displaying breasts as per the American Playboy counterpart. The founder Tattilo was quoted as saying, "The U.S. is a matriarchy. I think this is the reason for the American male preference for women with exaggerated, voluminous bosoms."[2]
In the early years, with Italy still a religiously conservative society at the time, each month the Italian police in some cities would order a mass seizure of the magazine. Playmen rarely lasted more than 48 hours on the newsstands before either being sold out or seized by the police.[2]
The July 1968 edition contains an article by Henry Miller. In the December 1972 issue, Playmen obtained an international scoop: it published the photo of Jacqueline Kennedy, then wife of Aristotle Onassis,[1] while she was naked in the swimming pool of their villa in the island of Skorpios.[4] The photos were not published in the United States until Hustler printed them in 1975.[5]
In addition to naked women Playmen occasionally also depicted naked men. It paid John Paul Getty III (who was 16 at the time) $1,000 for a naked photo spread and cover of the August 1973 issue – on newsstands a month after the oil empire heir had been kidnapped in Rome.[5]
The magazine contained interviews of significant people in literature, cinema, politics, and sport.[3]
In the 1990s, with the arrival on the market of pornographic videocassettes, the magazine's sales dropped significantly and advertising revenue sharply declined, causing Tattilo's empire to gradually enter a crisis, followed by the closure of Playmen in 2001.[6]
Adelina magazine
In 1979, Tattilo announced that she was planning on publishing — under the company name Chuckleberry Publications — an American edition of Playmen. The magazine was titled "Adelina" (in honor of its publisher) with the tagline, "America's edition of Italy's Playmen". Playboy magazine objected and sought a restraining order. Despite this, a number of issues of Adelina were published in the U.S. in 1980.[7][8][9]
In 1981, a federal judge found in Playboy's favor, stating that Adelina's subtitle was "designed to promote Adelina in such a way as to trade on the Playboy mark. It promotes a 'subliminal association with Playboy.'"[10] The judge also forbid Tattilo from renaming Adelina "Playmen" in the U.S.[11]
