Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson for March 04, 2021

♬Those were the days, my friends…♬

No old Playboys in our house either, but Argosy back then could be almost as good, when Dad sees the need to stash them away where the youngsters should not be able to find them. Didn’t believe then nor do I believe now that he was stashing them from Mom. But don’t move your teenager’s room to an unfinished attic and then not expect them to go exploring into stuff that is “out of sight, out of mind” for the adults. Found the stash of College Textbooks and got Mom’s permission to “Read whatever you like, come ask questions about anything you might not understand”. Dad and I did not see eye to eye enough at that point for me to let him know that I had found his magazines and very old Ace Paperbacks.

I discovered the fallout shelter under my High School back in the ’70s, and there was a stash of Playboy magazines dating back to when the school was built (1962). There were entrances all over the school and we got busted when we came up in the Band directors office, Lmao!

Arlo never needed “Old Playboys”. He already had his “Playmate”!

HA! More likely, Janis found them and pitched them out.

My first experience with adult magazines was a Hustler. When I finally saw a Playboy, I wasn’t very impressed.

My dad kept a small stash hidden under the National Geographic collection in the basement. I still have fond memories of Gwen Wong…

early ’60’s, In a in-wall shelf eight feet up, I found dad’s December 1953 Marilyn Playboy in a stack..me not knowing any better wore them and her, out. subsequently, all got scattered & lost, a good copy of Marilyn fetching three grand, and all the rest of the lot going for another six..

Down in the basement on top of the freezer that was taller than I could reach. (w/o a boost)

I grew up in a house with an attic. The next 14 houses didn’t have one.

Janis should be glad that the boys didn’t find a tape that Arlo and she had made in the past. They destroyed one, but they might have forgotten about another.

For reasons I do not know, my parents had a stash of BRAILLE Playboys. Neither were blind. I do not remember if they photos were braille too.

Arlo did not need Playboy Mag’s he has Janis!

Until the last panel, I thought “the boys” had uncovered Arlo’s stash. Then again maybe he’s helping Dad,keep it a secret.

At that age, in my time, the boys still went for National Geographic’s “native” women.

When Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant was about to enter the football year of winning 315 games, PLAYBOY did an interview with him. I folded the Playboy Magazine to the Article and let my Supervisor (who loved Coach Bryant) read it. He read the page I had given him and went on to the other pages of the article about Bryant. After reading it, he closed it up and found out he was reading a Playboy Magazine. Later on a cold November day, I was at the Iron Bowl when Alabama beat my beloved Auburn Tigers to give Coach Bryant 315 wins. A year later, I was there to watch Bo Jackson go over the top to give Auburn a win over Alabama, and Coach Bryant’s last Iron Bowl.

Maybe the attic held some sketches that were left over from Janis’s life-drawing class?

My brother was only 9 or 10, maybe younger, but even then he was really interested in what Playboy had to offer. My Dad had no real objection to his interest, moral or otherwise, but despite my brother’s pleas, my Dad refused to buy the magazine. His reasoning? There was no way he was going to make “that guy” (i.e., Hugh Hefner) any richer than he already was!

I saw my first Playboy at the Barber Shop when I was about 10. After my haircut, the shop was empty, so I asked the Barber if I could stay a while and look through all of them. He said, sure.

We used to find them out in the woods under a huge tree that hung low. Ooooops. But true!

Arlo’s Playboys versus Janis’s china. Which is the true heirloom, valued by the next generation?

This is a late thought I had, but … In the 70’s Playboy went around various college campuses for their co-ed edition. A lot of boys volunteered their girl friends. Now, with Arlo’s Polaroids of Janis, I really have to wonder if he went to any of the auditions to show them. Just think, Janis might be in one of your old editions!