Penthouse December 1981

Penthouse magazine

December, 1981

It's December, 1981, and the top single in the land is Olivia Newton-John's 'Physical'.

Let's all gather around the Christmas tree and open our presents.........including the December issue of Penthouse magazine !

We'll see advertisements for the must-have gift for the year: the Atari 'VCS' model gaming system ! (At my household, we didn't get an Atari, mainly because our TV was a modest little 17-inch black and white affair and, at $130, the Atari system was a little pricey).

Additional consumer electronics included a cutting-edge Sharp 'solar' calculator, and another 1980s must-have item, the Boombox.......especially one endorsed by Earth, Wind, and Fire, who happened to have the No. 3 single on the Billboard Hot 100: 'Let's Groove' !

For those of a more sensual bent, we had 'Denim', a macho men's fragrance, and 'Bodylicks' and the 'Original Mink Whip' ! Rowr, nasty !

One of the pictorials features the spectacular Gabrielle Sagan, who sports a vintage Louise Brooks hairstyle and a bronzed body that gleams in the sun.

Interestingly, Gabrielle since has become a Meme, at least, in the artwork of Linda Adair.........or perhaps it's a case of Synchronicity ?!

Champagne and Sunshine, by Linda Adair, 2022

The December issue has some funny cartoons that take advantage of the holiday theme.........

The subject of the Celebrity Interview is none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger, looking for cinematic success with the forthcoming release in 1982 of the movie Conan the Barbarian.

The articles section has some interesting items. There is a piece on Jerry Falwell, who earlier that year had lost a lawsuit against Penthouse.

UK socialite and writer Anthony Haden-Guest pens an article about crime and passion in New York City. The article is an excerpt from his 1983 book Bad Dreams.

There's an examination of the phenomenon of motocross racing, a sport rising in popularity.

There's an ad / article for Omni magazine, which by the end of '81 was a major outlet for science fiction writers. But Penthouse itself continued to showcase science fiction, as Gardner Dozois got a story in the December issue:

Let's close the pages of the December issue with a look at another pictorial, this one featuring a man-woman couple and imaged with such the 'gauzy filter' look that it's an exemplar of the Penthouse approach to photography.

And so we say goodbye to December, 1981................Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everybody !