It's New To Us: Playboy Bunny Manual, Circa 1968

By Karl Klockars in Arts & Entertainment on Jun 15, 2011 7:00PM

Playboy founder Hugh Hefner might be pining for simpler times today. Times when people didn't cancel their weddings with him 5 days before they were scheduled. Times when those wedding cancelers had the common decency to call it quits at a proper point in the publication schedule. Times when men were men and women were Bunnies.

If that's the case, we might suggest he flip through this Playboy Bunny Manual from 1968, posted to ExPlayboyBunnies.com. It's from a year where Playboy Clubs were destinations for discerning gentlemen across the country and around the world, and where being a Bunny was akin to being an American geisha. As such, there were rules.

Demerits for unkempt hair and lipstick too pale. Citations for not alerting the Bunny Mother to your tardiness, or for "improperly bent" Bunny ears. When smoking is and is not allowed. Lists of eligible income tax deductions for Bunnies including wigs and foster care deductions. What dances the Bunnies may perform with patrons (the Watusi is a-ok). Helpful hints for Bunnies spending long hours on their feet, such as: "To relieve tired feet, soak them in a solution of epsom salt and warm water for one half hour, then elevate feet." It's all in here.

It's 27 pages of mimeographed Rules For Bunny Living, and we hope the producers of the upcoming Chicago-based "Playboy Club" program are taking notes. We've posted a few outstanding pages, but paging through the rest is encouraged.