| Vintage Pulp | Dec 2 2017 |
Never say Neva when it comes to tigerskin rugs.
This Technicolor lithograph, which is titled “Tiger Lil” and was printed by Champion Line, shows Neva Gilbert, a Playboy model who was the magazine's July 1954 centerfold. The litho, which also dates from 1954, is generally identified as originating with Playboy, but it actually came from a group of photos first owned by the Baumgarth Calendar Company. Back then Hugh Hefner often paid outside photographers for images. For that reason it's possible the photo is pre-1954, but if so, not by much.Gilbert herself had forgotten about the shots. She was busy trying to establish an acting career and never saw her own centerfold until 1979. She had no idea Hefner had culled some shots for Playboy. In fact, she had no idea what Playboy was until someone told her she was in it. Speaking of culling, we are not fans of killing rare animals to turn into gaudy home decorations, but we imagine that if you had one of these on your floor back then they greatly increased your odds of a woman doing exactly what Gilbert has done. The Pulp Intl. girlfriends doubt it, but they always do. And of course, we want to prove them wrong. Anyone got an extra tiger rug they want to sell?
