Posted on December 19, 2020
Please note many images will be NSFW

I found the next 4 slides on ebay.
The seller had purchased a batch of slides through an auction.
A handful were labeled (as taken by) Peter Gowland.
I looked through the lot on Ebay and recognized Paige in a handful of the many slides of topless or naked women.
There are very few images of Paige in circulation that weren’t take by Peter and his partner, wife Alice Gowland. She did most of her modeling work with the couple or Peter alone.
I was interested only in Paige’s photos of course, but had to buy the whole lot. Now I own several slides of unknown women.
I wish I had a few non-nude-modeling images of Paige. Especially the kind taken in a natural environment by family or friends.
Gowland took several non-nude photos of Paige modeling the current fashions of the day.

Never used in US Playboy magazine.
NSFW
These are the slides of Paige that I purchased.
Location is the Gowland’s Property in Rustic Canyon?
Image #1 would be an immediate reject. In fact all of them and the whole lot are rejects and that’s how the slides got on the market, probably.






A cigar is just a cigar?
Mel Ramos. Pop artist known for appropriating images of Playboy Playmates intertwined or wrapped up in, consumer objects.
Ramos’ rendition of Paige Young’s face is a spot-on likeness. Her breast size is not, it’s greatly exaggerated.

Found on internet.
The unique stone pattern of Gowland’s swimming pool was used for numerous photos in his photography instruction books over the decades.



Cover of Playboy magazine in which Paige appeared as Playmate of the month November 1968.
She did not appear on the the cover of “her” issue as some Playmates did. A Femlin touting the election instead.
Party Joke page Femlin character by LeRoy Neiman, she appeared in sculpted clay model form a few times as we see in November of 1968, election month between Hubert Humphrey and Richard Nixon. I remember in El Paso finding out at school that Nixon had won.
Playmate Puzzles

LA based author Duke Haney told me about the history of Playmate puzzles.
Playmate Puzzles-Playboy merch.
It was a series and one of them included the centerfold image of Paige Young. Look on ebay and there are several examples.
“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 Haney for speaking with me, I really appreciate it!

*NOTE* All the 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 “was a true artist who stretched her own canvases and mixed her own paint.”



PETER GOWLAND’S GIRLS exhibit and book curated by Thom Schrimbock 2016. All took place in Germany.

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
Photo below is from my copy of the book.
NSFW
I do not know if it was included in the German exhibit.




Paige Young had some photo shoots published and distributed in 1970. Like the Playboy Calendar shown above. Image coming soon.
Paige appears in the 69/70 edition. Cover below.




Merci Montello when this was taken by Peter Gowland. Mercy Rooney in Playboy December 1972. Merci was a favorite of Peter Gowland and she appears in several of his books and on some of his branded merchandise.



Lancaster New Era. April 14, 1969.
<<<<<<< I think Merci had this skill.
Mercy “Montelco” took her husband’s last name for Playboy modeling and became Mercy Rooney. She worked as a Playboy Bunny in the LA Club.
April 1
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 Stephanie Drake, Kathy McCullen, Cindy Margolis, and several Playboy Playmates, including Renee Tenison, Nikki Schieler, Barbara Moore, Heidi Sorensen and Penny Baker.
Thanks to:
Michael at glamourphotographers.yolasite.com
I will add Cyndi Wood and Debra Jo Fondren, both Playmates of the Year, appeared in Ridgid calendars shot by Peter Gowland.

NSFW
This image seated in yellow chair was used on a Playboy collectible card. Interesting mid-century chair and brown shag carpet specific to the era.


From an ebay sale several years ago. Probably a gift for special clients of Electro Chemical. There is an association with Ridgid the Tool Company who made the calendars for decades. Early 1970s.
Not identified as Paige Young. Again I recognized her looking through these photos for sale on ebay. I did a search of Peter Gowland and they photos came up.
The other model is a Gowland Favorite:Ann Cushing.
Both Paige and Ann are featured on sets of “sip and strip” glasses, none are identified by name or title of Playmate. I did not buy these I could afford one only.
Category: #Paige Young, 1960s, 1970s, LA Locations, Playboy, PMOM, Popular Culture Tagged: #Shag carpet, 1960s, 1960spinupmodels, 1968, 1970s, 1970sfad, 35mm slides, Duke Haney, Exhibit in Germany, Feminist Art, Femlin Playboy, glamourphotography, Leroy Neiman, Martha Rosler, Mel Ramos, Merci Montello, Merci Rooney, Mercy Rooney, Mickey Rooney Jr., Monica Narveson, Paige Young, Peter Gowland, Peter Gowland's Girls, pin-up models, pinup photography, Playboy, Playboy History, Playboy magazine, Playboy merchandise, Playboy Playmate, Playmate Puzzle, Pop Art, Pop culture, Raquel Welch, Ridge Tool Company Ohio, Ridgid Calendar, Ridgid Tool Calendar, Sally Sheffield, Thom Shrimbock, Venetia Stevenson, Vietnam era, Vintage Novelty Barware, Vintage Playboy Playmate, Wack! Art and the Feminist Revolution
Paige Young in Los Angeles