BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.—If there's one name that's likely known all over the world, it's Playboy publisher/founder Hugh Hefner. From the iconic magazine, whose first issue featured a centerfold of Marilyn Monroe, to the Playboy After Dark TV show to the Playboy cable channel to the myriad Playmates who've gone on to prominence in various media, including a few with their own TV shows, Hefner's impact on modern society has been virtually inescapable. And now, many of his personal mementos, keepsakes and decorations from the Playboy Mansion will be going on the auction block at the end of November.
According to the website JuliensAuctions.com, among the items Hefner fans and collectors will be bidding on during the two-day live and online auction taking place November 30 and December 1 are "Hugh Hefner’s complete personal set of bound volumes of Playboy magazines (estimate: $20,000-$40,000); the entrepreneur’s Playboy Legacy Collection Gold, a limited edition set of 48 chromogenic and gelatin silver prints by various photographers in a folio wooden case with gold embossed title, published in 2007 (estimate: $20,000-$30,000); a vintage 1946 coin-operated Wurlitzer jukebox programmed by Hefner from his game house containing 24 original 78 rpm record albums by artists such as Artie Shaw, Frank Sinatra, Harry James, Johnny Mercer, Lena Horne, and others (estimate: $10,000-$20,000); Hefner’s five large folio volumes of Salvador Dali's “Biblia Sacra” (estimate: $8,000-$10,000); a custom 1974 Monopoly board game that includes a pipe smoking Hefner and a Playboy Bunny, among other Mansion regulars, custom Hefner Monopoly money, houses, hotels, cards and more in a custom wooden box marked 'Monopoly Parts for HMH' (estimate: $6,000-$8,000); Hefner’s bespoke smoking jacket (estimate: $3,000-$5,000) and silk pajamas (estimate: $1,000-$2,000); his personal copy of the first issue of Playboy magazine, in 1953 featuring Marilyn Monroe on the cover (estimate: $3,000-$5,000) along with a first edition of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1925) (estimate: $3,000-$4,000); a carved Briar pipe with custom Playboy Bunny logo (estimate: $2,000-$3,000); Hefner’s leather bound Saturday Night Live script when he hosted the show on October 15, 1977 (estimate: $400-$600); a vintage Underwood Standard Portable typewriter used by Hefner in college (estimate: $300-$500); his Playboy logo cuff links, breakfast tray, white captain’s hat, monogrammed playing card deck holder, Playboy VIP card and more."
Bidding can be accomplished by showing up in person at Julien's Auction's showroom in the Standard Oil Building Beverly Hills at 257 N. Canon Drive, Beverly Hills 90210, or online at JuliensLive.com, or by phoning (310) 836-1818. All bidders must preregister to take part in the auction, which will be held in four sessions: 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Friday, November 30, and the same times on Saturday, December 1.
Also available is a two-volume catalog of the auction items, which also includes an absentee bid form for those who are unable to attend in person, by phone or online. Even those not planning to bid may wish to purchase a copy of the catalog, which the website claims is "For aficionados of the swinging sixties, freedom of speech and fans of the journalism maven, no library is complete without this record of such a colorful and important time in our country’s history." And at a mere $250, it's a steal!
