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ATLANTIC CITY - There was a time when scantily clad "bunnies" and perpetually pajama-clad Hugh Hefner were part of the Atlantic City gaming scene.

Playboy was not just a men's magazine in the early 1980s, but a casino, too.

Although the casino was stocked with beautiful artwork and sculptures, what really drew the customers were the trademark Playboy bunnies who worked as cocktail waitresses in shapely outfits.

The old Playboy Hotel and Casino has long since closed, but fond memories of Hefner's pleasure palace have inspired some of the now middle-aged bunnies to dust off their old costumes and 3-inch-high pumps in preparation for a lavish employee reunion the weekend of Oct. 3.

The setting for the reunion will be a $12 million Avalon mansion that may rival the fabled Playboy Mansion serving as Hefner's Los Angeles abode. The bayfront Avalon manse is owned by Pennsylvania real estate investor Robert Herdelin and managed by property director Renay Rogers, a former Playboy casino cocktail waitress who is organizing the get-together.

"This is the first reunion that would include all former employees - cocktail servers, dealers, supervisors, valets, chefs," Rogers said. "I've heard from all types of employees."

Rogers, of Winslow Township, Camden County, said the reunion will give former employees a chance to reminisce about Playboy's glamorous heyday.

"It was what you call a classy operation," she said. "They treated us so well as employees. We had such respect. It was a classy organization from every level."

Rogers, 51, can still fit into her original bunny costume from the 1980s, donning a red one for a recent photo shoot. The iconic outfits feature oversized bunny ears, a fluffy cotton tail, bow-tie collar and cuffs.

"The costumes were custom-made for each girl," Rogers recalled. "We had our own seamstress for our wardrobe. No girl could fit into another one's costume. They fit as tight as a corset."

The sight of gorgeous cocktail servers in cleavage-baring bunny outfits attacted throngs of young men to the Playboy casino after it opened April 14, 1981. That was Playboy's problem. There were too many customers gawking instead of gambling.

Things went downhill from there. By 1984, the party was over. Playboy magazine founder Hefner had to sell his interest in the casino to partner Elsinore Corp. after New Jersey regulators refused to grant him a gaming license. Regulators concluded Hefner lied about his business dealings during a license hearing.

Elsinore changed the Playboy to the Atlantis Casino Hotel in 1984. Like the legendary continent for which it was named, the Atlantis also sank - awash in red ink. In 1989, the distressed Atlantis earned the dubious distinction of being the first Atlantic City casino to close down. After a failed effort by yet another owner, Donald Trump, to run it as a casino, the 22-story complex was shuttered for good in 1999 and demolished.

Judi Hall, 47, another former Playboy cocktail server who lives in Upper Township, Cape May County, joked about the transition from Playboy to the ocean-themed Atlantis.

"We went from ears and tails to shells," she said of the costume change for cocktail waitresses. "At the Atlantis, you had to wear two big shells across your neck area."

Hall still has four of her old Playboy outfits, but unlike Rogers, she will not be putting them on again.

"She may still be able to get into hers, but I had a couple of kids," Hall said, laughing.

Hall, now an executive with a subsidiary of the utility company South Jersey Industries, also is chairwoman of the South Jersey AIDS Alliance. Proceeds from the Playboy reunion will benefit the alliance.

Hall said the reunion underscores the close relationships many of the employees had at Playboy.

"My 10 best friends, I met them at Playboy," she said. "They had people there from all over because they recruited. There were people from the Midwest, they came from the Caribbean, they came from England. It was a big melting pot."

While hundreds of people are expected for the weekend reunion, the big question is whether Hef himself will show up. He has been invited.

"I would say it's a longshot," Hall said. "But keep your fingers crossed."

E-mail Donald Wittkowski:

DWittkowski@pressofac.com

6 comments:

• ZachyM (3) posts 1:32 am

  The Playboy Casino also suffered from a shopping mall effect. The escalators, with a full view of the boardwalk and ocean, did not have a "casino-feel" at all. They were too SLOW for the action that a gambling endeavor demands. The aisles between the tablegames were too narrow and it took too long to find a table to play at. To their credit, they did have $3 blackjack longer than most other casinos at the time, though likely out of desperation to attract more floor traffic. The few baccarat tables were stuffed into tight corners and the slot machines were on long rows with no horizon in site. A double row of craps tables had only one floor with enough space to accommodate them and the craps tables on the end of a row had too much non-gaming foot traffic to be a comfortable spot to toss dice. The trip to find a window to buy coin for the slots was too remote and wasted time. It was hard to find the casino credit window and the cashier windows. The high-limit tables on the upper floor were not exclusive enough and provided only wasted space, no additional amenities or ambiance. Access to restaurants and non-gaming revenue sources took you away from the lights and glitz of the casino floor. Noise, color and flashing lights cannot attract more floor traffic if they are out of earshot and out of the line-of-sight. The hotel entrance was close to the boardwalk, was hard to drive to and from, the lobby was small and crowded. In summary, in my opinion, the Playboy Casino is a case study for a disaster waiting to happen, with or without skimpy cocktail server costumes, before it ever opened.

• todfiat (0) posts 7:50 pm

  not only am i not homosexual -- as u well know - i'm not even "jim charles." LMAO! (Some days I'm "amelia earhart", whom very few < 60 yrs. remember, sadly, unlike her older brother, Dale.) if you can say & spell "Rumpelstiltskin" - do U have Skype? - without simply copying the spelling I've given you, and provide a word that rhymes exactly with "orange," i'll tell you my REAL name. I'll be patient. Slante!

• todfiat- (93) posts 1:10 pm

  Well, what do you know. The hypocritical closet gay Jim Charles(aka todfiat),,is gay-bashing again. Obviously you are guilt-ridden todfat, you never miss the opportunity to post homophobic comments. The people that cry the loudest like yourself are hiding the facts of their true sexual identity. It's okay to come out of the closet Jim Charles, we all can see right through your facade. Just like your hero Sen. Craig, crying about gays, isn't that right Jimbo(heard your BF calls you that). Keep toe-tapping todfiat,,haha....I'm back!!!!

• todfiat (0) posts 10:37 am

  "Hall... also is chairwoman of the South Jersey AIDS Alliance. Proceeds from the Playboy reunion will benefit the alliance." --- well, whaddya know? i answered my own question. There IS a homosexual angle to the rabbit invasion, after all.

• todfiat (0) posts 10:33 am

  I thought there was a big push on to lure homosexuals to dying A.C., knowing they must party & spend like it's 1999, per their OCD. What went wrong?... or are the bunnies at least bisexual?

• myinfo (123) posts 8:49 am

  Those are NOT the same costumes...

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