The Casino Chicago Club

• The Casino Club Chicago Delaware
• The Casino Club Chicago Wedding
• The Casino Club Chicago Membership
• The Casino Club Chicago Membership

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The Playboy Club was initially a chain of nightclubs and resorts owned and operated by Playboy Enterprises. The first club opened at 116 E. Walton Street in downtown Chicago, Illinois, United States, on February 29, 1960. Each club generally featured a Living Room, a Playmate Bar, a Dining Room, and a Club Room. Members and their guests were served food and drinks by Playboy Bunnies, some of whom were featured in Playboy magazine. The clubs offered name entertainers and comedians in the Club Rooms, and local musicians and the occasional close-up magician in the Living Rooms. Starting with the London and Jamaica club locations, the Playboy Club became international in scope. In 1991, the club chain became defunct. Thereafter, on October 6, 2006 a Playboy Club was opened in Las Vegas at the Palms Casino Resort,^[1] and in 2010 clubs were opened as well in Macao^[2] and Cancun.^[3] In time the Las Vegas club closed on June 4, 2012,^[4] the Macao club closed in 2013^[5][6] and the Cancun club closed in 2014.^[7][8] In May 2014 the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles opened a Playboy-themed lounge consisting of gaming tables and Playboy Bunny cocktail waitresses.^[9]

On September 12, 2018 a Playboy Club was opened in New York City at 512 West 42nd Street in Midtown Manhattan.^[10][11] Many questioned the wisdom of opening a Playboy Club in the #MeToo era.^[12][13] On November 14, 2019, after just over one year in operation, the owners of the new Playboy Club in New York City announced the club had closed and the space would be re-branded as a steak house and other entertainment venue.^[14]

History[edit]

The first Playboy Club opened in Chicago in 1960, and later there were clubs in Miami, New Orleans, New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Detroit, San Francisco, Boston, Des Moines, Kansas City, Phoenix, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Denver, Dallas, Buffalo, St. Petersburg, FL, Lansing, San Diego, Columbus, Lake Geneva, WI, Omaha, and St. Louis. There was also a Playboy Club in Canada, in Montreal. Playboy Clubs operated in Japan, under a franchise arrangement, in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, and Sapporo. There were Playboy Club resorts in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, Great Gorge at McAfee, New Jersey, and at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, as well as Club-Hotels such as the Playboy Plaza in Miami Beach, Florida and Playboy Towers in Chicago. The last American location before Playboy Club Las Vegas opened was Lansing, Michigan, located in the Hilton Hotel, which closed in 1988. International Clubs existed until the 1991 closing of the Manila, Philippines Club located in the Silahis International Hotel. In 2010 International Clubs were opened in Macao and Cancun but in time the Macao Club closed in 2013 and the Cancun Club closed in 2014. Manila was the only Club ever to be featured in Architectural Digest. During the last three months of 1961, more than 132,000 people visited the Chicago club, making it the busiest night club in the world. Playboy Club membership became a status symbol. Only 21% of all key holders ever went to a club. At $25.00 per year per membership, Playboy grossed $25 million for every 1,000,000 members.

The Rabbit-headed metal Playboy key (supplanted by a metal key-card in 1966)^[15] was required for admission to a club.^[16] They were presented to the Door Bunny. Through most of the years, a strict dress code was enforced.^{[citation needed]}

In 1965, Hugh Hefner sent Victor Lownes to London to open Playboy's British casinos, following legalization of gambling in the United Kingdom. In 1981, the casino at 45 Park Lane (now a luxury hotel, 45 Park Lane) was the most profitable casino in the world,^[17] and the British casinos contributed $32 million to the corporation. Later, Playboy also operated British casinos in Manchester and Portsmouth. In 1981, Playboy opened a hotel and casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. However, the New Jersey gaming regulators denied Playboy a permanent gaming license, and Playboy sold its interest in the unit to Elsinore Corporation, its partner in the venture, in 1984, at which time the hotel and casino were renamed The Atlantis.

The Playboy Club in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin featured architecture inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright^[18], operated from May 1968 until 1981, had a ski slope, and was one of the first to install a chair lift.^[19] The facility is now operated as the Grand Geneva Resort & Spa.^[20] Its 'Playmate Bar' featured the Russ Long Trio and its showroom was managed by Carlo Cicirello.^{[citation needed]} The 32-piece house orchestra was headed by Chicago pianist, Sam Distefano, who also conducted for such artists as Peggy Lee, Mel Torme, Anthony Newley, Tony Bennett, and Ann Margret. Distefano went on to serve as Playboy's Vice President of entertainment for all Playboy Clubs and Hotels worldwide until he left Playboy Club after 25 years.^[21] The Lighter Side Trio entertained at all of the Playboy Clubs from 1972 to 1975, led by Joe DiPietro, with Douglas Brett and Charles Raimond.^{[citation needed]}

On October 6, 2006, Playboy opened a new Playboy Club in Las Vegas, Nevada. The new club at The Palms, with its prominent neon bunny head, had casinos, bars, and a restroom with pictures of Playmates on the walls.^[22] The club closed in June 2012.^[23]

Australian women were invited to Sydney to audition for the iconic Playboy Bunny role and for positions as singers and dancers at the Playboy Club. A minimum of five women were chosen to travel to Macao for a six-month contract as a Playboy Bunny. The Macao Playboy Club opened on November 24, 2010.^[24]

In October 2010, it was announced that a new Playboy Club in London was to be opened on the site of the old Rendezvous Mayfair Casino 14 Old Park Lane. It was opened on June 4, 2011.^[25][26] The 17,000 sq ft property, spread over two floors, was designed by London-based architects Jestico + Whiles.^[27] The club features a casino, cigar terrace, gentleman's tonic, sports bar ('The Player's Lounge'), night club ('The Tale Bar'), cocktail bar under the direction of Salvatore Calabrase, and a fine dining restaurant under the reins of Iron ChefJudy Joo. Along the stair-walls, a row of lenticular portraits are hung winking and smiling at guests as they walk by.^[28]

In November 2012, spokesman Sanjay Gupta announced that PB Lifestyle, the company in India with rights to the brand, would be opening its first club in India at Candolim, Goa in December 2012. It was planned as a 22,000 square feet (2,000 m²) beach location.^[29] In April 2013, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar refused the application on 'technical grounds'.^[30] Parrikar said only individuals, not corporations, were eligible to operate a beach shack style club. The law did not preclude opening a night club.^[31] After the Goa club, PB Lifestyle planned to open clubs in Hyderabad and Mumbai.^[32] India's obscenity laws ban material deemed 'lascivious or appealing to prurient interests'.^[33]Adult magazines such as Playboy are banned in India. Designer Mohini Tadikonda has altered the original Playboy Bunnies uniform to satisfy India's obscenity laws.^[34] In 2nd half of 20th century, Spain, a local Hostess Bar businessman in the Valencia community registered the name: 'Club Playboy' and the rabbit icon. Several of this kind exist under the name.

On September 12, 2018 a new Playboy Club was opened in Midtown Manhattan, New York City.^[35] On November 14, 2019, after just over one year in business, the owners of the new Playboy Club in New York announced the club had closed.^[36]

In popular culture[edit]

• In a 1982 episode of the TV show Laverne & Shirley entitled 'The Playboy Show', guest-starring Carrie Fisher, Laverne takes a job as a Playboy Bunny at The Playboy Club despite her father's wishes.^[37]
• The 1985 TV movie A Bunny's Tale, starring Kirstie Alley, was based on writer and future feminist leader Gloria Steinem's 1963 article for Huntington Hartford's Show magazine, a critical account of her time working as a Playboy Bunny at the New York Playboy Club.
• The 2000 TV movie, A Tale of Two Bunnies (aka Price of Beauty) starring Marina Black and Julie Condra, tells the story of two girls working as Playboy Bunnies in 1961.
• In the James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever (1971), Bond replaces his wallet with that of the recently killed diamond smuggler Peter Franks to confuse his contact, Tiffany Case. When she opens the wallet she finds Bond's Playboy Club Member Card, which she uses to identify the man on the floor.
• The film, Hefner: An Unauthorized Biography, includes leotard-wearing women being trained as hostesses in a Playboy Club.^[38]
• In Mad Men Season 4, episode 10 ('Hands and Knees'), Lane Pryce (who is a member) takes his father and Don Draper to dinner at the Playboy Club in New York City and introduces them to his 'chocolate bunny' girlfriend, Toni.
• In season one, episode two of Swingtown, the characters visit the Playboy Club.
• September 2011 saw the premiere of NBC'sThe Playboy Club, a television series focusing on the employees and patrons of the first Playboy Club, located in Chicago. A competitive 10:00 PM Monday slot contributed to low ratings and led to the show's cancellation on October 4, 2011.^[39]
• In the video game Grand Theft Auto V, players can find the Playboy mansion on the outskirts of the city. It looks identical to the real life counterpart. It also includes the tennis courts and the famous grotto.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^'Playboy Club Las Vegas'. destination360.com. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
2. ^'Playboy Bunnies Land in Macau'. The Wall Street Journal. November 22, 2010.
3. ^'Playboy Club Cancun Brings Exciting Nightlife and Gaming to One of the World's Most Popular Travel Destinations' (Press release). Chicago. PR Newswire. 2 December 2010. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
4. ^'Most Popular E-mail Newsletter'. USA Today. June 4, 2012.
5. ^Wilson Ng (2 October 2013). 'Playboy Club Sands Macao has closed down'. Places and Foods. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
6. ^http://www.hkclubbing.com/directory/nightclubs/playboy-club-sands-macao.htmland^{[permanent dead link]}
7. ^Phil (30 April 2014). 'Mexican Ministry closes six casinos including Playboy Cancun'. G3 Newswire. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
8. ^'Cancun Casino - Review of Playboy Casino Cancun, Cancun, Mexico - TripAdvisor'. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
9. ^'Lucky Rabbit Party Pit Playboy Poker Room'. The Commerce Casino. Archived from the original on 24 July 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
10. ^Thompson, Kara (13 September 2018). 'Hugh Hefner's Legendary Playboy Club Has Reopened in New York'. Town and Country.
11. ^Vianna, Carla (12 September 2018). 'Playboy Club Is Back And Sounds Just as Ridiculous as Ever'. New York Eater.
12. ^Eichner, Sam (14 September 2018). 'NYC's Playboy Club Is Reborn in the #MeToo Era, Bunnies and All'. The Daily Beast.
13. ^Gabbatt, Adam (10 September 2018). ''Tone deaf' Playboy Club opens in New York, defying the #MeToo era'. The Guardian.
14. ^Weiss, Lois (14 November 2019). 'NYC Playboy Club bunnies to hang up tails and ears after just one year'. New York Post.
15. ^'IMG_8534'. Playboy Online Museum. 15 December 2015.
16. ^'Playboy Club 40th Anniversary Celebration'. Explayboybunnies.com. 1960-02-29. Retrieved 2012-11-07.
17. ^'Luxury Hotels Mayfair, 45 Park Lane, Hotels Hyde Park London'. 45parklane.com. Retrieved 2012-11-07.
18. ^'Hugh Hefner connection to Wisconsin: Lake Geneva Playboy Club Hotel'. FOX6Now.com. 2017-09-28. Retrieved 2019-10-02.
19. ^jrozell@kenoshanews.com, JILL TATGE-ROZELL. ''A different time:' Hundreds attend Lake Geneva Playboy Club 50th anniversary celebration'. Kenosha News. Retrieved 2019-10-02.
20. ^'A History of Grand Geneva Resort & Spa'. Experience Wisconsin. 2016-09-01. Retrieved 2019-10-02.
21. ^'Sam Distefano, Talent Exec for Hugh Hefner and Meshulam Riklis, Dies at 88'. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2019-10-02.
22. ^'Playboy Club Opens in Las Vegas'.
23. ^'Playboy Club at Las Vegas' Palms Casino Closes'. USA Today. June 4, 2012. Retrieved June 4, 2012.
24. ^'Playboy Club Sands Macao Bunny Auditions In Sydney'.
25. ^'New Playboy club to open in London'. The Daily Telegraph. October 19, 2010.
26. ^Milton Bayer. 'Exclusive Members' Club with Casino, Cocktails, Playboy Bunny Hosts and more'. Playboy Club London. Retrieved 2012-11-07.
27. ^'Playboy bounces back into London'. UK Construction magazine. 13 October 2011. Archived from the original on 21 October 2011.
28. ^'Playboy Club London – The Bunny Ears return'. The Handbook. May 12, 2011.
29. ^'India to get First Playboy Club in Goa'. BBC News. November 1, 2012.
30. ^'Playboy's first India club rejected in Goa'. BBC News. April 16, 2013.
31. ^'Playboy denied licence to open beach club in India's party state of Goa'. The Guardian. Associated Press. 16 April 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
32. ^Vasant, Khushita (November 2, 2012). 'Bunny Hop: Playboy Comes to India'. Wall Street Journal.
33. ^'India gets ready for first Playboy club, with bunnies'. NDTV. November 1, 2012.
34. ^'India Gets Ready for First Playboy Club'. CNN. December 21, 2012.
35. ^Thompson, Kara (13 September 2018). 'Hugh Hefner's Legendary Playboy Club Has Reopened in New York'. Town & Country.
36. ^Weiss, Lois (14 November 2019). 'NYC Playboy Club bunnies to hang up tails and ears after just one year'. New York Post.
37. ^'The Playboy Show' on IMDb
38. ^'Hefner:Unauthorized' on IMDb
39. ^'The Playboy Club'. NBC. NBC. Retrieved 9 October 2014.

External links[edit]

There are those who think Society is dead, but they are fools. In Chicago, at least, there will always be Society, because, don't you know, there will always be The Casino club.

If you don't think so, just ask that nice little insurance company that built the John Hancock Center next door to the Casino (but more about that later).

Chicago is a city full of clubs. It could scarcely function without them.

The most powerful club in town-its membership list fairly creaking with weighties and mighties-is of course the Chicago Club, which a century ago was able to get the federal government to rush out and put up Ft. Sheridan just so there would be troops on hand to put down labor riots and other untoward disturbances.

But, since it was established in 1914, the most absolutely, utterly, excruciatingly exclusive club in Chicago has been the Casino, and I can think of nothing short of a major earthquake to render it otherwise.

Even then, it would be the most exclusive rubble in the city.

For those of you who have not crossed the Casino's decorous if not terribly decorative threshold, the Casino occupies what amounts to a one-story little black and green building at 195 E. Delaware Pl. among the towering high rises of Streeterville just off North Michigan Avenue.

It is unmarked and, passing by it, you might think it maybe a pricey funeral home or the pied-a-terre of some wealthy, eccentric and extremely private person.

Its much marbled, pastel-colored, classic and great Art Deco interior is perhaps the loveliest and certainly most tasteful space in town-and I don't think has been more than dusted since 1928. Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney would have loved it-though the club members probably would not have loved her bohemian ways.

There's a dining room, a lounge, a ballroom and not much else. Once, when I was addressing a luncheon gathering there, I remarked how much the pillared ballroom reminded me of a Parisian bal musette (or dance hall). The members were not amused.

It is not, as its name could suggest, some racy gambling den (unless you consider teatime bridge as racy, and I think there are some Casino Club members who actually do), full of rakehells, mountebanks and fallen or falling ladies. Like the tennis Casino in Newport, R.I., it draws its name not from Monte Carlo but from the principal definition of the word 'casino': 'A building or room used for social amusements.'

The social amusements at the Casino run to lunching, dining, napping (sometimes while lunching and dining), gossiping and the occasional dancing. Mostly, they run to what F. Scott Fitzgerald described in 'The Great Gatsby' as 'the rich being rich together.'

Not simply 'the rich,' but 'Society'-and Society includes many who, though belonging to the Truly Elite, are quite poor. One woman I know of, conned out of her fortune by a rascally husband, was taken regularly to lunch at the Casino and other places by friends who knew it was the only way the poor thing would get anything to eat. Happily, the scoundrel died before he could divorce her and remarry (as was presumed to be his plan), and she got all her money back.

But the Casino is more than a high-toned soup kitchen for the temporarily strapped. As one very social lady of my acquaintance put it: 'The Casino was founded by the elite for the elite, and they're still using it.'

The invasion of the socialite

I am as hard put to define 'Society' as the estimable Cleveland Amory was in his landmark book, 'Who Killed Society?' The book was published in 1960, and, despite that hyperbolic title, Society is of course still very much alive and kicking-not to speak of tea dancing and harrumphing.

But people have always been trying to kill it, and what's killing it most nowadays seems to be the 'socialite.'

As you might gather from reading all the social life magazines that now abound in the area (I think there's even one dealing with doings in Glenview, which I never realized had doings), the term 'Chicago socialite' is tossed around so loosely you'd think the title was available for purchase at Wal-Mart or bus station vending machines.

Seemingly anyone with the price of rental evening wear, an invite to a charity dinner and a news or magazine photographer pal or two can get himself or herself labeled 'socialite' in the public print. If Chicago had as many street cleaners as it does socialities, it would be a much tidier place.

But despite their relentless attempts to blur the distinction, there is a difference between socialites and Society. For the best measure of which is which, you need only pick up a slim little yellow book that says, 'The Casino, Members and By-Laws.'

The name of the game

I shan't list all 200 plus current members' names, but they include Adams, Armour, Baldwin, Bartholomay, Bensinger, Blair, Blettner, Butler (no, not the Oak Brook Butlers), Chaffetz, deFrise, Donnelley, Fentress, Gidwitz (the beautiful Christina), Graham, Harvey, Heineman, Jahn (Helmut the architect), Kroch, McCormick, Nielsen, Oldberg, Olmsted, Paepcke, Potter Palmer, (the Lord Peter) Palumbo, Paschen, Prince, Ryan, Ryerson, Smith, Sudler, Terra, Voysey, Wilkin (Abra, don't you know), Wirtz and Wood.

'By the time we found out,' one lady member told me, 'it was too late to start the blackball!'

How does one become a member? The bylaws do not say. If they did, I think they would say something like: 'No person may join the Club who is not already a member.'

The Casino Club Chicago Delaware

Though the Casino does have a small quota of non-resident members, I-now a Virginian-am not one of them. I do from time to time visit it as a guest, but am careful to count the times. The bylaws state: 'A Non-Member of THE CASINO may accept an invitation to the Club only once a month and must be accompanied at all times by a Member. A Non-Member may be invited to attend a party in the Club of 25 persons or more, irrespective of having used the privilege for that month.'

Alas, the standard for admission to the club is much high for non-members than for those people merely allowed to rent the club for parties. Consider the hired hall luncheon being thrown this month by non-member Sugar Rautbord for non-member and visiting author Dominick Dunne.

In the beginning

The initial raison d'etre of the Casino was to provide an oasis for Lake Foresters who, after a hard day shopping, tea dancing or captaining industry, just couldn't bear to drive or train all the way back to the North Shore to change into evening finery for nocturnal gavottes in the city.

Originally, the Casino was in a pink and white (gads) building at 167 E. Delaware Pl., but an unscrupulous real estate developer (imagine, in Chicago!) sold the property out from under the club and in 1928 it was compelled to move to its present site.

You can bet your booties that sort of thing never happened again. In the mid-1960s, the Hancock people decided to put up a major development on the block fronting Michigan between Delaware Place and Chestnut Street. They needed the entire block because they planned to erect an office tower and a residential one on the space.

But, then as now, a significant section of the block was taken up by the Casino. The Hancock people wrote to longtime club president Mrs. John Winterbotham asking to negotiate the purchase of the club property. They weren't even given the courtesy of a scornful reply. Years later, after Mrs. Winterbotham died, the Hancock's letter was found buried in a drawer of her desk-so far beneath contempt she didn't bother answering it.

Deprived of space for two buildings, the Hancock Center project developers were compelled to stick the residential tower on top of the office one, producing what was-for a time-the world's tallest building.

Falling into place

The Hancock folks were certainly decent about it all, though-going to the trouble of pumping 44,000 gallons of liquid grout into the soil under the Casino to solidify its base and keep teacups from rattling while their skyscraper was under construction.

Still, a large piece of machinery fell from the Hancock's girders during the construction, hitting the Casino's roof, and the area was bombarded by falling hammers, bolts and at least one bucket, though no one was injured.

In the middle of one horrid night, a huge chunk of ice broke off the Hancock and crashed through the Casino's roof into (gasp) the ballroom! Club employees discovering the damage in the morning were said to be 'aghast.'

Most of the time-when chunks of ice aren't falling through the roof-the place is about the quietest in the city. The acoustics are such that you can overhear even the most decorous lunch conversation-though some aren't decorous at all. I recall one in which a very grande dame kept booming on about how terrible the food was, how insufferably slow the service was, etc., etc., etc.

All the while, waiters kept shuffling about her table paying no attention whatsoever.

The Casino Club Chicago Wedding

In the days before ethnic diversity, one prominent and now deceased Jewish society lady who was not a Casino member was so thrilled by a party thrown in her honor at the club that she had prominent mention of it made in her prepared obituary. A much beloved current member of the Casino reportedly is making plans for a party to be held in her honor there after her demise.

Some of the simply loveliest wedding receptions in town are held at the Casino. There are debs parties, too-but only the most select, and sedate.

'The flashy ones are sent to the hotels,' one member explained.

Probably the most excitement attendant to the Casino occurs, not on the club premises, but at mailboxes all over the Chicago area when the invitations are sent out for the Casino's annual December Ball-held the first Friday of that month and universally considered the most exclusive and most prestigious event on the Chicago social calendar.

The Casino Club Chicago Membership

Not only is the invitation list a carefully held secret; the membership of the committee that draws up the list is kept secret.

The Casino Club Chicago Membership

I'm told only 250 are invited to the December Ball dinner, and another 400 are allowed in later to join in the dancing. All others, including that great mob of Chicago 'socialities,' can likely be found that night holed up at home with the lights out, lest it be discovered where they aren't.