may I have this dance

 --------------------- [info and excerpts from "The Making of Playboy - A Chicago Stories Documentary" (available on You Tube] ---------------------

In 1960, a young Chicago girl named Gloria Johnson worked at the Urban League as a secretary.  She looked forward to the Playboy Jazz Festival, and dreamed about the party afterwards....

Gloria Johnson:  "All I could think about was how I could get my - self an invitation to that party.  

I picked up the phone and called Hugh Hefner!

I said, 'Mr. Hefner, my name is Gloria Johnson, and I am 19 years old, I measure 34-22-34, with the complexion of a Boston coffee.  And I'd like to come to your party.'

        He said, 'Gloria, I'll make sure that there's an invitation waiting for you at the door.'

        I had my little gold la-may dress on, went into the main ballroom, looked down upon a whirling sea of dancing celebrities; all of a sudden, a warm, reassuring hand reached out to me and said, 'I'm Hugh Hefner, may I have this dance?'

I felt like Cinderella!"

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{a note:  I realize the word "la-may" is spelled l-a-m-e with an accent mark.  I don't know how to make an accent mark over the "e" on my Chromebook, so I spelled it phonetically - the way it sounds...}

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 Gloria Johnson was invited to become a "Playboy Bunny" at the Playboy Club in Chicago.  She was the first black bunny - hired three years before the Civil Rights Act banned workplace discrimination.

        She says, "It was a job that required dedication and hard work."

-30-