Artifact 0180 – a symbol of success in a bygone era
Front of Bleecker's Playboy Club Key card
Back of Playboy Club Key Card
For at least 45 years (if not longer) one of the gifts Bleecker received from his brother Phil every Christmas was an annual subscription to Playboy magazine. Along the way Bleecker also joined the Playboy Club – which was only $25/year back then. He did use it for business meetings and a couple times for family outings. Playboy was not solely about sex, but also about culture and style. One of those family outings was to the Lake Geneva Playboy Club for lunch on a Saturday. My sister had always wanted to see a real live Playboy Bunny up close; so did my brothers too, but not with the admiration my sister had. Somehow she knew that the Bunnies were women empowered – they knew they were attractive and desirable, but they also had more – grace, empathy, intelligence.
After Bleecker’s death, this Playboy Key card was found in his effects. It is made from a slab of aluminum (or aluminium, in the old homeland) about twice the thickness of late 20th century plastic credit cards. It dates from about 1973 or 1974. In the Cooke Family Artifact catalog, it is artifact number 0180.