In 1961, the Texas Tech University yearbook, La Ventana, began the tradition of having a Playboy Magazine feature complete with female students as Playmates and even a full color centerfold!... (although, there was never any nudity)
This practice continued for 20 years, with the last faux Playboy cover appearing in the 1982 edition of La Ventana.
centerfold from the 1974 yearbook
Several thoughts come to mind…
1. How did parents feel about paying for their daughter to go to college, and find her on the cover of a mock Playboy cover in the yearbook? Perhaps, parents weren’t as uptight as they are now.
2. Why did the practice end? Was there an outcry from the alumni that it was sexist? Or did the yearbook faculty just retire after twenty years of service?
3. What would the public say today of a Playboy insert in a college yearbook? Would there be condemnation or ambivalence?
4. I wonder if the Playboy yearbook segment died because Playboy itself had ceased to be respectable. In other words, Playboy’s image in 1961 was akin to Esquire and GQ. By 1982, however, it became associated more with Hustler and Penthouse. (A faux Huster spread in the Texas Tech yearbook would’ve been interesting.)
Enough with the sociological reflections, let’s check out the covers of the Texas Tech La Ventana from 1961 – 1981, with a few corresponding pages for good measure.
To view all the covers check out the Flickr slideshow. Each cover is labeled with the yearbook date. Remember to click the 4 arrow icon on the lower right to view the images full screen (hit escape to return to Retrospace).
