What do you think?
Rate this book
Playboy Blondes
From Playboy 's classic archives comes a trilogy of stocking-stuffer-sized volumes, each devoted to a certain hair color destined to quicken a man's pulse. Blonde? Brunette? Redhead? In the fifties, sixties, and seventies, it seemed like all the Playboy models, not just blondes, had more fun. Building sandcastles in the buff, romping on tiger skin rugs, or starting pillow fights, beauties of every tress are captured in these timeless color photographs. Playboy contributing editor James R. Petersen introduces each book with a heartfelt text, and witty quotes are sprinkled throughout. At once evocative and whimsical, this handsome collection is a perfect gift for a gentleman whether he prefers a blonde, marries a brunette, or has always had a thing for a redhead.
- GenresPhotography
128 pages, Hardcover
First published September 22, 2005
About the author
James R. Petersen
16 books7 followersPetersen is a veteran of forty years at Playboy magazine. Hired to be the Playboy Advisor in 1973, for two decades he answered “All reasonable questions—from fashion, food and drink, stereo, sports cars to dating dilemmas, taste and etiquette.” He was, according to USA Today, “the number One source of sex advice in America.” That was his day job. An award-winning freelancer, he has written about adventure travel, motorcycling, windsurfing, kayaking, and skiing (he co-authored Playboy’s Guide to Ultimate Skiing).
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 16, 2010
Old joke: What’s the difference between erotica and pornography? With erotica, you use a feather; with pornography, you use the whole chicken.
Less familiar version: What’s the difference between erotica and pornography? The lighting.
These “classic” centerfolds from the Playboy archives land safely on the well-lit, feathery side of the line. They’re tasteful, for one thing: no DP action, no gynaecologically-detailed cooter shots (it seems pubic hair didn’t start showing up in Playboy until the early seventies). The pictures have a wholesome, “naturist” look to them, as if the models were nice, middle-class girls posing for their boyfriends at home or in some secluded glen. The whole question of sex has been somehow bracketed off—not ignored, exactly, but set aside as something so obvious that explicit invocation would be, by its very redundancy, crude, vulgar, ungentlemanly. It’s almost sweet, this quaint, reverential attitude towards the female body. Aesthetically, early Playboy owed a lot more to the European tradition of the nude portrait than to the grubby, proletarian ethos of hardcore porn.
Looking back on my adolescence, I don’t remember seeing many Playboys around. When my friends and I chanced to get our hands on some porn, it was invariably one of the sleazier, downmarket skin mags like Hustler or Juggs. By then (the late eighties), the entire industry was catering to the psychosexual imaginaries of long-haul truckers, and I shudder to think how that affected the men of my generation. (And if the previous sentence sounds like a slur on truckers, well, I guess it is; but I can safely say I’ve met more truckers than most of the people reading this, so I know whereof I speak—and those guys are fucking depraved.)
To be honest, I didn’t find Blondes the least bit arousing (and a good thing, too: I was flipping through it in a crowded bookstore; does the phrase “pitch a tent” mean anything to you?) As I turned the pages, it hit me that all the “girls” in Blondes must be either dead or elderly by now, so admiring their youthful figures suddenly seemed icky and ghoulish to me—like going through my grandpa’s ancient porn stash or something. It brought to mind that old blues refrain, with its pointed, Horatian moral: “Baby, you so beautiful but you got to die some day.” Of course, that train of thought led me straight to Marvell and the grave, that “fine and private place”, with the worms crawling around his mistress’s pelvic bone and whatnot. Nice. Basically, I skeeved myself out. Thanks, brain.
Anyhow, just then a young lady came sidling up to the bargain table where I was standing—book in hand and a no-doubt crazed leer on my face—so I quickly threw down Blondes and started thumbing some random cookbook. All smooth-like.
But I noticed there are two other titles in the same series—Redheads and Brunettes, natch—and my local bookseller has them marked down to $5.99 each, which seems pretty reasonable. So, who knows: reviews to follow?
Less familiar version: What’s the difference between erotica and pornography? The lighting.
These “classic” centerfolds from the Playboy archives land safely on the well-lit, feathery side of the line. They’re tasteful, for one thing: no DP action, no gynaecologically-detailed cooter shots (it seems pubic hair didn’t start showing up in Playboy until the early seventies). The pictures have a wholesome, “naturist” look to them, as if the models were nice, middle-class girls posing for their boyfriends at home or in some secluded glen. The whole question of sex has been somehow bracketed off—not ignored, exactly, but set aside as something so obvious that explicit invocation would be, by its very redundancy, crude, vulgar, ungentlemanly. It’s almost sweet, this quaint, reverential attitude towards the female body. Aesthetically, early Playboy owed a lot more to the European tradition of the nude portrait than to the grubby, proletarian ethos of hardcore porn.
Looking back on my adolescence, I don’t remember seeing many Playboys around. When my friends and I chanced to get our hands on some porn, it was invariably one of the sleazier, downmarket skin mags like Hustler or Juggs. By then (the late eighties), the entire industry was catering to the psychosexual imaginaries of long-haul truckers, and I shudder to think how that affected the men of my generation. (And if the previous sentence sounds like a slur on truckers, well, I guess it is; but I can safely say I’ve met more truckers than most of the people reading this, so I know whereof I speak—and those guys are fucking depraved.)
To be honest, I didn’t find Blondes the least bit arousing (and a good thing, too: I was flipping through it in a crowded bookstore; does the phrase “pitch a tent” mean anything to you?) As I turned the pages, it hit me that all the “girls” in Blondes must be either dead or elderly by now, so admiring their youthful figures suddenly seemed icky and ghoulish to me—like going through my grandpa’s ancient porn stash or something. It brought to mind that old blues refrain, with its pointed, Horatian moral: “Baby, you so beautiful but you got to die some day.” Of course, that train of thought led me straight to Marvell and the grave, that “fine and private place”, with the worms crawling around his mistress’s pelvic bone and whatnot. Nice. Basically, I skeeved myself out. Thanks, brain.
Anyhow, just then a young lady came sidling up to the bargain table where I was standing—book in hand and a no-doubt crazed leer on my face—so I quickly threw down Blondes and started thumbing some random cookbook. All smooth-like.
But I noticed there are two other titles in the same series—Redheads and Brunettes, natch—and my local bookseller has them marked down to $5.99 each, which seems pretty reasonable. So, who knows: reviews to follow?
February 5, 2017
This book begins with a great essay on blondes and has a lot of great photos, of course, and quotes about blondes. Now on to the redheads.
December 27, 2025
An anthology of blondes from the archives of Playboy featuring Playmates, celebrities, and other models who appeared in the magazine during the 50s, 60s, and early 70s.
Features an insightful introductory essay about blonde hair and is interspersed with witty quotes about the virtues of blondes.
Features an insightful introductory essay about blonde hair and is interspersed with witty quotes about the virtues of blondes.
September 13, 2019
Beautiful collection of images of women with yellow hair, 1950's to 1970's.
January 27, 2020
Imagenes eroticas de rubias (sin llegar a lo pornografico) con frases para rubias de los años 60',70' y 80'
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews