Bunnies remember Playboy past

It has been more than 25 years since the exclusive Park Lane club closed its doors. But time has been kind to the ladies who hopped to The Grapes pub in Narrow Street last weekend.

Former bunny Hazel Bell said: "It's wonderful to see how well everyone looks. There are some fantastic-looking people here."

The first Playboy club appeared in Chicago in 1960, and a London venue opened six years later following the legalisation of gambling in the UK. The 24-hour club offered blackjack and music to an exclusive crowd of celebrities and high-rollers. The bunnies could be found working as either croupiers or waitresses, sporting their iconic tight corsets and fluffy ears.

Hazel was among the first to sign up after responding to an advert on pirate station Radio Caroline.

She said: "I was working on a market stall, and my mother persuaded me I should go for an audition.
"It was like getting a big film part at the time. All the mums and dads were invited to the opening. I grew up in Walthamstow, so it was a completely different world."

Hazel left the club to work in Swaziland in 1968, and travelled the world for several years before returning home.

She said: "I got a lot of jobs all over the world from being a croupier. People were always impressed when you said you worked for Playboy."

Lana Tarkowski, who joined in 1969, said: "When I was first chosen to train for the job, I'd never been in a casino in my life and I didn't want to go back.
"My mother was a dancer in the 30s and 40s, and she said it would be a very exciting life. She encouraged me to go for it, but not to tell my dad. But when I eventually did, he didn't mind at all.
It was great for me, because youngsters don't like getting up early for work, and I didn't have to because I had the midnight shift.
"It was very exciting. We'd be in the bunny room and would hear that Michael Caine or someone had just come in and we'd all be hoping we'd be asked to work at that table.
"I went to Australia after that. When I got there, I mentioned I was a croupier and I ended up doing a few TV commercials and advertisements.
"I ended up working in an illegal casino in Sydney in 1975. We used to get tip-offs that the police were coming and we'd cover the casino tables up with tablecloths and tea sets."

Portsmouth-born Marilyn Cole went from bunny to playmate in just three weeks, when Playboy Europe head and future husband Victor Lownes few her out to Chicago to pose for the magazine's first full frontal shoot.

She said: "They sectioned us up into cocktail bunnies and croupiers. For me it was a little like being in the army.
I had been working in Portsmouth co-op before the audition, but within three weeks I was the playmate of the month in January 1972.
"I went on to be playmate of the year in 1973, and I'm the only British person ever to do that.
"It was Victor who sent me to Chicago to be a playmate. I've known him for 37 years and we've been married since 1984.
"We were all at the club at a time when it was the real thing. Even if the Playboy club re-opens in London, it will never be the real thing again."

Grapes landlady Barbara Haigh describes her bunny years as "the best years of my life".

She said: "It was all very sophisticated. There was a showroom and a disco. It was the sort of club you just don't see any more.
Celebrities used to come to the club because they knew they could have a great evening without the screaming hordes giving them grief.
"We had Jack Nicholson, Muhammed Ali and John Wayne down there. It was tricky when Keith Moon and Ringo Starr stopped by, because they used to beat the top of the table to the music and you couldn't put drinks down.
"You'd be star-struck but you'd just get on with your job. We had a camera bunny who would come round and snap shots of the bunnies with stars for the magazine. But they could just say no if they didn't want their picture taken.
"There's a big thing about them possibly opening another club somewhere in Haymarket. But I couldn't ever see it working again because of the strict rules and regulations we had back then.
"Can you see girls going in for inspection and being turned down because they had a tattoo or they needed their teeth straightened?
"We had to go in front of the board of directors and they'd pick us off. If you'd put on too much weight, they'd suspend you until you lost it. But we were virtual celebrities at the time, and it was very highly paid."

Barbara has been hosting get-togethers at The Grapes since 1999. And while the traditional pub may be a strange place for a bunny re-union, the regulars are getting used to it.

She said: "A lot of them have been gravely disappointed because they expect a gang of teenagers to turn up in rabbit costumes. But we're not bad for our age."