My memories of going to the Playboy Club in 1979, Phoenix, Arizona


I have no documentation to prove that I went to the Playboy Club in Phoenix, no photos, no receipts, nothing but memories, so I was reluctant to write this, so you're just gonna have to believe me, and I'll stick with what comes back to me after all of these years.

I had a neighbor at the Saguaro Apartments who had a Playboy Club Key (membership), and one evening he invited me to come along with him. As I recall he was just a little older than I was, because in 1979 I was 19. Of course, it could have been 1980, when I was 20, but it was definitely before I turned 21, because I recall that the drinking age hadn't risen to 21 until after I turned 21. Whether I was 18 or 19 I don't recall. The point is that I was old enough to go into a bar, and drink. And that's what the Playboy Club was in my memory, just a bar.

I have absolutely no memory what I ordered to drink, but since I wasn't a drinking man back then I may have just toyed with the drink or given it to my friend, who was very comfortable there. I was terribly uncomfortable, not just because I had never been in very many bars in my life, but mostly because of the way that the cocktail waitresses were dressed. Yes, they wore bunny ears, but my most vivid memory is seeing a bustier for the first time in my life.

My friend was a heavy smoker, and the entertainment for the night was a hypnotist, who hypnotized him to stop smoking. That is, until we left the bar, and he lit up.

I wish I could tell you more, but that's all that comes back to me - mostly the bustier. I've since learned that the Playboy Club was in the Mayer Central Building, the shorter one, sometimes called Corporate Center, which is just across from Park Central. I have a picture of it in my collection - hang on, here it is:





If you were my waitress that night I want to thank you for being so understanding. Looking back, I'd like to believe that I was calm and relaxed, but I have a feeling that I just stared at everything, including you.

Correction - I just realized that it had to be 1977 or '78, but who's counting?

Thank you for the encouragement! If you want to see daily pics of my adventures on my recumbent trike in suburban Phoenix (just for fun, of course!) you can follow me on Buy me a coffee, and you can buy me a coffee if you'd like to:

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Comments

  1. Craig BFebruary 25, 2023 at 7:39 PM

    I was there as well. In 1979 I was 19 and old enough ... My parents were members and took my girlfriend and I there one night for dinner . They had delicious steak dinners. My only keepsake from that night were the drink stir sticks with the bunny logo at the top. Sadly the last one I had was tossed in trash just recently. The waitresses were definitely hot in the bunny outfits.... It was sad to see it shut down.

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    Replies
    1. Brad HallFebruary 26, 2023 at 5:26 AM

      Hi Craig - thanks for sharing that with me. I did the math wrong, and it looks like you're a little younger than me, but you were definitely more mature! I wish that I could remember more, or that I had any type of tangible evidence that I was indeed there, but my reaction to seeing the waitress in the Bunny uniform is definitely vivid! - Brad

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