And there’s my homeroom angel in the pages in between
Whet Moser has revealed on the Reader blog one of my favorite secrets of the University of Chicago (introduced to me by MDM): the Playboy Playmates Database [uh, NSFW].
Maintained by an employee at the Reg on the library's servers, it's a database of thumbnails of every centerfold in Playboy's history, along with reviews for each one. It's the Playmates from the magazine's earlier days that I'm most drawn to. There's just something charming about them - somehow they appear almost...real. The models are placed in scenarios that give the impression that these may be actual moments in time captured on film, more so than any contemporary airbrushed and Photoshopped centerfold can. It makes them so much more suggestive and alluring, despite not even always baring all. Mark Tomlonson's review of Miss February 1958, Cheryl Kubert, articulates this excellently:
In Cheryl Kubert's centerfold (February 1958) we've just said something incredibly stupid and are about to ruin the whole deal.
So why rate this centerfold, one without any naughty bits, so highly? Because it does such a great job of capturing the moment. It's a very real moment. Everyone on this List can probably point to at least one time where they saw a similar look on their partner's face. Maybe you recovered and completed the task you originally set out to complete, maybe not.
The point is that the implied situation rings so true. It doesn't hurt, either, that Cheryl looks pretty good here. The make-up and hair are perfect. Overstyled for contemporary tastes, but still very good. Cheryl's eyes in particular are very well drawn. They're bright and open, and add a great deal of life to Cheryl's expression.
The artistic values are in line with the other elements. The colors are bold and true. The window on the right divides the frame into vertical stripes, and these stripes are echoed in Cheryl's sweater. The horizontal sill at the bottom keeps our eyes within the frame.
Photographer: Mario Casilli
Scoring:
Pin-up: 3.0
Erotic: 3.0
Artistic: 3.0Overall: 3.0 out of 4.0
Tags: playboy, the university of chicago