Posted on December 19, 2020
I found on the next 4 slides on ebay. The seller had purchased them through an auction. They were labelled only as “Peter Gowland slides” and I happened to recognize Paige in a few of them.
Outtake from Playmate photo shoot by Peter Gowland. (The stone pattern of Gowland’s pool was seen in numerous of his published photography instruction books over the decades.
LA writer Duke Haney told me about the history of Playmate puzzles, one of them included the centerfold image of Paige Young.
“The successful Playmate puzzle series was released periodically, in groups of 4 Playmates at a time. Paige’s group included Cynthia Myers, Gwen Wong and DeDe Lind. It was released in 70/71.”
Haney describes the lid of the Playmate puzzle.
“The mini-centerfold measures 3×6.5 and two were included with every puzzle. One was folded so that only the face of the girl was visible through the opaque cap on the can. This was so that the buyer knew which puzzle it was, which Playmate. There are four pictured on the can itself. Then there was another mini-centerfold inside the can. This one wasn’t creased like the one below the lid. These pictures were guides to be referenced while piecing together the puzzle. Only one would have been necessary but hey…”
Author Duke Haney
Haney says Playmates “never received residuals, Playboy owned the photos outright.” And that “The last of the puzzles were released in 1973, so Paige would have certainly been alive when her puzzle was released.”
Thank you Duke for speaking with me, I appreciate it!
*NOTE* All of images of Paige’s paintings that follow were publicly posted on Pinterest and/or Facebook.
The Laundress
Painting by Paige Young courtesy of Melanie Myers. Myers said that Paige “stretched her own canvases and mixed her own paint.”
To mark the 100th birthday of Peter Gowland ZEPHYR – Space for Photography in Mannheim & Reiss-Engelhorn Museums curated “Peter Gowland’s Girls,” the first international exhibition of his lifework. “Peter Gowland’s Girls” showcases some 200 works selected from Peter Gowland’s estate, which comprises tens of thousands of superb prints and slides, including the most sensational, most elegant and most daring pictures from his unparalleled career as a pin-up photographer. The exhibition displays his portraits of stars like Joan Collins and Jayne Mansfield, his work for “Playboy” and “Rolling Stone”, and his pictures for innumerable calendars and magazines from the 1940s to the 1970s. from petergowlandphotography.com
PETER GOWLAND’S GIRLS exhibit and book curated by Thom Schrimbock 2016
Photo below is from the book “Peter Gowland’s Girls.”
Labeled “Unknown”
Paige had some photo shoots published and distributed in 1970. Like the Playboy Calendar shown above.
Ridgid Tool Company became famous for its’ 2-year calendars featuring images of bikini-clad models holding various tools made by Ridgid. I’m guessing Ridge sent these calendars every year to their tool purchasing clients.
Paige appears in the 69/70 edition.
Many more models, starlets and Playboy Playmates were unnamed models in these Ridgid Tool calendars over the decades. One did go on to great fame: Raquel Welch.
From 1964 until 2002, Peter and Alice photographed models for the Ridgid Tool Calendar (Ridge Tool Company). Some of the models who appeared in those calendars include Raquel Welch, Stephanie Drake, Kathy McCullen, Cindy Margolis, and several Playboy Playmates, including Renee Tenison, Nikki Schieler, Barbara Moore, Heidi Sorensen and Penny Baker.
Michael at glamourphotographers.yolasite.com
Category: 1970s, LA Locations, Playboy, PMOM, Popular Culture Tagged: 1960s, 1960spinupmodels, 1968, 1970s, 1970sfad, 35mm slides, Duke Haney, Exhibit in Germany, Feminist Art, Femlin Playboy, glamourphotography, Leroy Neiman, Martha Rosler, Mel Ramos, Monica Narveson, Paige Young, Peter Gowland, Peter Gowland's Girls, pin-up models, Playboy History, Playboy magazine, Playboy merchandise, Playboy Playmate, Playboymagazine, Playmate Puzzle, Pop Art, Pop culture, Raquel Welch, Ridge Tool Company Ohio, Ridgid Tool Calendar, Sally Sheffield, Thom Shrimbock, Venetia Stevenson, Vietnam era, Vintage Novelty Barware, Vintage Playboy Playmate, Wack! Art and the Feminist Revolution