(Legendary Chicago-based photographer Art Shay has taken photos of kings, queens, celebrities and the common man in a 60-year career. In this week's look at his archives, Art is in a romantic mood for Valentine's Day.) more ›

Playboy Enterprises signed a licensing deal with Boston-based Tremont Realty Capital LLC, which is looking at 1150 N. Dearborn for a new Playboy Club. more ›

Playboy founder Hugh Hefner might be pining for simpler times today. If that's the case, we might suggest he flip through this Playboy Bunny Manual from 1968, posted to ExPlayboyBunnies.com. more ›

Playboy announced today that they've digitized the entire 57-year run of the magazine and set up a subscription-based service that's been maximized for viewing with the iPad. Playboy Chief Content Officer Jimmy Jellinek said that now men don't need to hide 57 years of the magazine under the mattress. more ›

51 years ago, on a typically cold Febuary day in Chicago, a line of eager patrons waited outside on the sidewalk for a new club to open up at 116 E. Walton St. $50 got them a lifetime membership to Hugh Hefner's first Playboy Club entitling them to a key with the bunny logo stamped into it, $1.50 meals, drinks, and a formidable variety of entertainment at the members-only establishment. And of course, there were the he soon-to-be famous bunny-attired cocktail waitresses. The formula worked, with nearly 17,000 visitors in the first month and over 100,000 in its first year. The club became a phenomenon and, along with the magazine and Hefner himself, a touchstone. more ›

Playboy Enterprises Inc. announced this morning that It's going along with a plan by founder Hugh Hefner to be taken private. Hefner has been working for months to put together a team of investors to take the company private, feeling that the company is undervalued at a time when its brand visibility is higher than ever. more ›

While promoting the Friday opening of Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel at the Siskel Film Center, Playboy founder Hugh Hefner told Metromix's Matt Pais that it's likely Playboy enterprises will consolidate all of its operations to the West Coast. more ›

Don’t worry toy nerds! It’s only one week! It’ll all be over this Friday, when Rotofugi reopens in their new location at Lincoln and Diversey in Lincoln Park with what looks like a titillating (ha) reopening show, Playboy Redux. Earlier this week, we stopped by the new location, which is gorgeous and far more accessible than the old Chicago Ave spot, even if it is in a less “cool” area. more ›

• The Sun-Times breaks it down on Metra Police OT pay.
• A police report on the party at which Calumet Township trustee Carlos Salgado drowned described the event as "raucous" including nudity and sex.
• Hef has made a bid on outstanding shares of Playboy but he's facing a counter-bid from rival Penthouse.

Who says the economy is recovering? Not Playboy Enterprises. The Chicago-based company (with offices also in LA) announced yesterday more job cuts are coming as they struggle to save $3 million. There's no word on how many jobs will be lost in the next round of cuts, but the company had already cut 78 jobs in the period from the end of March 2009 to the end of March 2010. Maybe that 3D issue wasn't as profitable as The Bunny had hoped? more ›

Earlier this spring, our own Rob Christopher joined a growing group of folks - including Roger Ebert - that have railed against the new trend in 3D, be it films or television. And despite their protests, the 3D trend continues to grow. Witness the latest development: Playboy in 3D. For the June 2010 issue, hitting newsstands later this week, centerfold will be in 3D (don't worry, the issue comes with its own glasses). Said editorial directior Jimmy Jellinek: "In today's print environment you have to create newsstand events...People want things that last and have meaning." We get how people might like a 3D Playboy, we're just not sure how making one centerfold in 3D gives it "meaning," but what do we know? We're just a 2D website. more ›

And we thought we were big fans of Playboy. The Reader has a great profile of Peggy Wilkins, a South Side woman who works at the University of Chicago by day and manages a large collection of Playboys by night. So large she rents a one bedroom apartment just to house them. She also moderates a Playboy fan mailing list and a searchable database of playmates. It's a fascinating peek into fandom and worth checking out. more ›

Chicago-based Playboy Enterprises has ended negotiations with Iconix Brand Management, owner of London Fog, Starter and Joe Boxer. The deal, estimated to be worth about $300 million, stalled over the role founder Hugh Hefner would play. Hef, who owns 70 percent of the company's stock, is the magazine's editor-in-chief and chief creative officer of the company, but he is no longer involved in day-to-day operations. The LA Times reports: more ›

The Tribune reported earlier today that Playboy Enterprises, amidst considerable profit losses, will outsource most of its business operations to the company that publishes National Enquirer, Men's Fitness, Star, Muscle & Fitness and other high-profile periodicals. The company, American Media Inc., will take over Playboy's print edition with the exception of editorial content in a five-year deal that Playboy hopes will return the magazine to profitability by the end of 2011. more ›

• Former DuPage prosecutor, state attorney general, and current gubernatorial candidate Jim Ryan apologized today for the prosecutions of Rolando Cruz and Alex Hernandez, the men originally convicted and sentenced to death for the 1983 murder of Jeanine Nicarico. He claimed the prosecution “acted in good faith...and still came up with the wrong result."
• Swine Flu's toll so far, according to the CDC: 22 million sick, 4,000 dead.
• Police in Cleveland have arrested a woman from Chicago who's been using her children to help her shoplift.

Over a year ago, we posted about an article in the "Sporting News" which theorized that the infamous "Black Sox" scandal -- the 1919 White Sox were accused of throwing the World Series -- was inspired by the Cubs having done so themselves the year before. A fascinating new wrinkle to the already extensive Chicago baseball lore. The author of that article, Sean Deveney, continued his research and has now written The Original Curse, which digs deeper into what may be the true reason for the Cubs' century of futility. more ›

• Playboy Enterprises, Inc. has named Scott Flanders, president and chief executive of Freedom Communications Inc., as their new CEO.
• A new judge has been assigned to the Drew Peterson case.
• You can no longer sue a bowling alley if you fall in rented bowling shoes.

• Speculation abounds that none other than Virgin's Richard Branson may be interested in buying Playboy.
• The Aqua building looks like it's landed itself a hotel tenant.
• The USOC has turned to none other than former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer to help them out.

Amongst the restructuring of the magazine, Playboy announced earlier this week there would be a double-issue for July/August. For those of you worried you'd get cheated out of two playmates, fear not. According to Crain's, there will be two playmates in the double issue. Phew. more ›

• Now that Mother's Day is over, let's focus on finding something to do with dear old Dad on Father's Day for a bit of bonding. How about robbing banks together?
• Lafayette, Indiana police are looking for information regarding the theft of a life-sized dog statue taken from in front of the public library. The sudden appearance of a life-sized dog statue atop a keg inside a Purdue frat house just a coincidence.
• Chicago's Roosevelt University is adding an athletic program after 20 years without one and are just working out some minor snafus, like not having any athletic facilities.

Love 'em or leave 'em, there's no denying the breadth of Chicago-based Playboy Magazine. And leave it to Playboy to try to turn our frowns upside-down during this recession by focusing on the...more pleasant aspects of the economy. It's this desire that has led to their new list: Women on Top: America's Sexiest CEOs [page is SFW but test your office monitoring software at your own peril]. And the list has a local flavor, with a pair of women CEOs making an appearance. more ›

Crain's Chicago Business reports that Playboy is getting deeper into trouble: they might be delisted on the New York Stock Exchange if they don't turn things around pretty quickly. Despite huge budget cuts, CEO Christie Hefner stepping down and other cost-cutting measures, times are still tough for the Chicago-based heritage men's magazine. more ›

As you might have noticed, the 1980s hard rock scene produced very few great scholars. There is no Kip Winger, Ph.D., or Mark Slaughter, M.Ed. Vince Neil implored us to call Dr. Feelgood, but never himself M.D.'ed. (Nikki Sixx OD'ed, though.) Blackie Lawless is not an Esq. more ›

Christie Hefner, Chairman and CEO of Playboy Enterprises and daughter of founder Hugh Hefner, announced today that she'll be stepping down from her posts effective January 31, 2009. 56-year-old Christie assumed leadership of the company in 1988 and bolstered the slumping image the brand had endured in the 1980s. Despite success over the last two decades, revenue from Playboy's magazine circulation and television programming are lagging. Still, Christie insists no one encouraged her to resign. She intends to pursue public service and non-profit work once her tenure has ended. Her proud papa had this to say:

"I asked Christie to step up as president when the company faced serious financial difficulties more than two decades ago. She has worked tirelessly to expand the company's franchise, and, as a result of her efforts, the company today has more consumers and fans than at any time in our history. Of course, as her father, my first priority is Christie's happiness. While I will miss her leadership here, I believe that she will go on to achieve even greater personal success."

Billy and I don't want to leave Chicago, so this is going to be home. Whatever I do is going to be done from here. I think it's going to be a mix. I think I'm going to find ways to give back both in the nonprofit side and public service. But I also have enjoyed the board work, the TV commentary and the speaking that I've done. I really don't plan to look for a CEO job. Been there, done that.

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Porn is like a money tree. If you need some cash, just go out and shake the silicone until a few hundred thousand dollars drop out. So how exactly can the nation’s foremost “gentlemen’s magazine” be losing money? Playboy announced a 4th-quarter loss today, losing $1.1 million compared with a $3.7 million profit at this time last year. more ›