Playmen

Infobox Magazine
title = Playmen


image_size = 250px
image_caption = September 1974 cover depicting Camille Keaton
publisher = Tattilo Editrice S.p.A.
category = Men's magazines
total_circulation = 450,000
circulation_year = 1971
frequency = Monthly
language = Italian
editor = Adelina Tattilo
editor_title = Founder
founded = 1967
firstdate = 1967
finaldate = 2001
finalnumber =
country = Italy
website = www.playmen.it - now defunct
issn = pls insert

"Playmen" was an Italian adult entertainment magazine, founded in 1967 by a mother of three, Adelina Tattilo, reaching fame as Italy's 'Playboy magazine'.

The magazine survived until 2001 and published monthly and features photographs of nude women, along with various articles on fashion, sports, consumer goods, and public figures. "Playmen's" use of 'tasteful' nude photos is classified as 'softcore' in contrast to the more 'hardcore' pornographic magazines. It is in the 'skin' genre of men's magazines.

Early years

During a running battle with the Italian police, the magazine reached a circulation of 450,000 in less than four years from it inception in 1967, selling then at about the equivalent of a US dollar per copy.

"Playmen" started out to imitate Playboy, although the first Girl of the Month, Brigitte Bardot, held her hands over her breast. But later, "Playmen" took on a style of its own, reflecting European tastes, by not overly displaying breasts as per the American "Playboy" counterpart. The founder Tattilo is 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, true wet nurses with a reassuring maternal aspect." The women Tattilo chose for "Playmen" were slimmer and more mature than Hugh Hefner's choices.

In the early years, 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; at that time, it was either sold or seized.

Content

Many actresses began their careers on the cover of "Playmen": Pamela Villoresi, the singer Patty Pravo, the French actress Brigitte Bardot, the actress Ornella Muti, the singer Amanda Lear and many others. The magazine contained notables such as Teresa Ann Savoy, Barbara Bouchet, Lilli Carati, and Camille Keaton. The July 1968 edition contains and article by Henry Miller. In 1969, "Playmen" obtained an international scoop: it published the photo of Jacqueline Kennedy, then wife of Aristotle Onassis, while she was naked in the swimming pool of their villa in the island of Skorpios. The magazine contained interviews of significant people in literature, cinema, politics, and sport. Oliver Reed was notably interviewed in 2000. In the 1990s, with the arrival on the market of the erotic and pornographic videocassettes, Tattilo's empire gradually entered a crisis, following the closure of "Playmen", in 2001.

ee also

*List of people in Playmen 1968-1969
*List of people in Playmen 1970-1979
*List of people in Playmen 1980-1989
*List of people in Playmen 1990-1999
*List of people in Playmen 2000-2001

External links

* [http://www.repubblica.it/2007/02/sezioni/persone/adelina-tattilo/adelina-tattilo/adelina-tattilo.htmlAdelina Tattilo Obituary]
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,942456-2,00.html Time magazine report 18 Jan 1971]
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,878117-1,00.html Time magazine report 11 Dec 1972]
* [http://www.ilgiornale.it/a.pic1?ID=154146&PRINT=S Il Gionale 5 March 2007]