Playboy May 1973

Playboy

May 1973

May, 1973, and atop the radio's Top 10, we have Stevie Wonder, followed by Tony Orlando and Dawn, Sweet, Elton John, Paul McCartney, and, at number 10, the psychedelic soul groove of 'Wildflower,' by the Canadian band Skylark.

The Nostalgia Craze of the 1970s is in full force in that spring of 1973, and the cover of the May issue of Playboy pays homage to the concept with a photo designed to recall those precious memories of 'back seat' action in the car.  

For a fiction piece, this May issue features a short story, titled 'No Comebacks,' by Frederick Forsyth. While it's slow to get underway and has a rather overly refined prose style, it turns out to be a great little tale of crime and punishment.

Our Playmate of the Month is the petite, Polish Anulka Dziubinska (b. 1950). When Playboy wanted to showcase blue-eyed blondes, it showcased them, all right...........and Anulka is an authentic blonde.

 

 

 

 

 

The subject of the Personality Profile is the elderly coal baron William Purviance Tams, Jr. (1883 - 1977), who established a profitable mine, and the eponymous mining town, in Raleigh County, West Virginia in the early 20th century. Author Laurence Leamer avoids being overly judgmental about Tams, which is good.

Nat Hentoff's article, 'If You Liked '1984,' You'll Love 1973' dives into early 70s paranoia in its overview of federal and private databases collected on American citizens. Think The Conversation, The Parallax View, and 'Fingerprint File' by the Rolling Stones.

Clashing decidedly with the T & A sensibility of the magazine is an article by Gerald Astor, 'What A Waste.' Featuring a great illustration by an artist whose name is too small and too low-res to make out, the article covers Astor's time spent with Detective Ed Sherry of the Boston Police Department's homicide unit. 

The catalogue of violence that the homicide unit must deal with is grim and disturbing:

 

Lieutenant Jerry McCallum: "The only thing that shocks me, and I've been to hundreds of autopsies, is the battered child. I can't take it. It's so unbelievable; they're almost all colored [i.e., black]. The people upstairs could hear the body of the child going thump, thump, thump against the wall, swung by its hand. And in the wall, indentations where the body, the skull hit the wall." 

 

Let's close on a more salutary note, with a portfolio starring actress Barbara Leigh (b. 1946). In those politically incorrect days of 1973, not only was it cool to refer to her as 'Indian,' in recognition of Leigh's Cherokee background, but posing Leigh in 'Indian' apparel enhances the messaging. And that's how they did it, 53 years ago.....