Centerfold

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A centerfold spread from a 1962 issue of the physique magazine Champ, showing a male model in a posing strap. In this example, the reader would be required to rotate the magazine to view the photo properly. Champ 1962 12 centerfold.jpg
A centerfold spread from a 1962 issue of the physique magazine Champ, showing a male model in a posing strap. In this example, the reader would be required to rotate the magazine to view the photo properly.
"Torpedoes in His Path: Can he, with that load, get through without exploding them?" U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes carries a cabinet on his back, containing Vice President William Wheeler, Secretary of the Treasury John Sherman, and Secretary of the Interior Carl Schurz. In the background are James G. Blaine, John Logan, Abram Hewitt and others. Published in Puck Magazine: Centerfold; Vol. 1 No. 1, March 14, 1877 Keppler - Hayes.jpg
"Torpedoes in His Path: Can he, with that load, get through without exploding them?" U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes carries a cabinet on his back, containing Vice President William Wheeler, Secretary of the Treasury John Sherman, and Secretary of the Interior Carl Schurz. In the background are James G. Blaine, John Logan, Abram Hewitt and others. Published in Puck Magazine : Centerfold; Vol. 1 No. 1, March 14, 1877

The centerfold or centrefold of a magazine is the inner pages of the middle sheet, usually containing a portrait, such as a pin-up or a nude. The term can also refer to the model featured in the portrait. [1] In saddle-stitched magazines (as opposed to those that are perfect-bound), the centerfold does not have any blank space cutting through the image.

Contents

The term was coined by Hugh Hefner, founder of Playboy magazine. [2] The success of the 1953 first issue of Playboy has been attributed in large part to its centerfold: a nude of Marilyn Monroe. [3] The advent of monthly centerfolds gave the pin-up a new respectability and helped to sanitize the notion of "sexiness". [4] Being featured as a centerfold could lead to film roles for models, and still occasionally does today. [4]

Early on, Hefner required Playboy centerfolds to be portrayed precisely, telling photographers in a 1956 memo that the "model must be in a natural setting engaged in some activity 'like reading, writing, mixing a drink'...[and]... should have a 'healthy, intelligent, American look—a young lady that looks like she might be a very efficient secretary or an undergrad at Vassar.'" [5] Hefner later said that the ideal centerfold is one in which "a situation is suggested, the presence of someone not in the picture"; the goal was to transform "a straight pinup into an intimate interlude, something personal and special." [5]

Some magazines later adopted the practice of having a centerfold with three or even four-folds, using a longer sheet of paper at that spot and folding the extra length into the magazine. Racier adult magazines used this space to showcase more explicit imagery: "In order to represent breasts, genitals, anus, and face all within the tri-fold frame of the centerfold, models were propped up, legs spread, raised, and then jack-knifed against their bodies, arms plunged between them to spread the labia." [6]

Though the term has become linked in the public consciousness with erotic material or models, many other magazines such as Life , Time and National Geographic have published fold-out spreads on other subjects.

Titles

Some magazines will refer to their centerfold models with a specific name, which may be connected to the magazine's brand or theme.
When obtained from one of the more prestigious publications in the field, it can become a semi-formal personal title used in news articles and introductions long after the model's centerfold appearance. [7] [8]

PublicationCenterfold
Blueboy Man of the Month/Year [9]
CheriTart of the Month/Supertart [10]
Duke Duchess [11]
Gallery Girl Next Door [12]
Genesis Playgirls (double centerfold, discontinued) [13]
High Society Society's Child (abandoned name) [14]
Hustler Honey [15]
Knave Maid of the Month [16]
Lui La Fille du Mois [17]
Mandate The Mandate Man (abandoned name) [18]
Mayfair Girl of the Month [19]
Men Only Men Only Girl/Miss (abandoned name) [20]
Penthouse Pet
Playboy Playmate
Playgirl Man of the Month/Year
Playmen La Ragazza del Mese [21]

Some online-only media outlets maintain a monthly designation reminiscent of a print magazine centerfold; for example, the Twistys Treat. [22]

Center spread

As a layout device, a centerfold is closely related to a center spread, a pictorial spanning the two center pages of a magazine or other publication, taking advantage of the fact that these are printed on a single sheet of paper. [23]

Related Research Articles

<i>Playboy</i> American mens lifestyle and entertainment magazine

Playboy is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother.

<i>Playboy</i> Playmate Female model featured in a centerfold of Playboy magazine

A Playmate is a female model featured in the centerfold/gatefold of Playboy magazine as Playmate of the Month (PMOTM). The PMOTM's pictorial includes nude photographs and a centerfold poster, along with a pictorial biography and the "Playmate Data Sheet", which lists her birthdate, measurements, turn-ons, and turn-offs. At the end of the year, one of the 12 Playmates of the Month is named Playmate of the Year (PMOTY). Every Playmate of the Month is awarded a prize of US$25,000 and each Playmate of the Year receives an additional prize of US$100,000 plus a car and other discretionary gifts. In addition, Anniversary Playmates are usually chosen to celebrate a milestone year of the magazine. The use of the word "Playmate" in a sexual sense did not originate with Playboy, and was seen at least as early as 1950 in Vue magazine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pornographic magazine</span> Magazines that contain content of an explicitly sexual nature

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Lindsey Eve (Vuolo) Handrinos is an American glamor model and actress best known for her appearance in Playboy as the November 2001 Playmate of the Month. She has appeared in a number of Playboy Special Editions, and in Playboy videos. She also appeared on TV shows such as The Girls Next Door and The Celebrity Apprentice.

<i>Oui</i> (magazine) Adult pornographic magazine

Oui was a men's adult pornographic magazine published in the United States and featuring explicit nude photographs of models, with full page pin-ups, centerfolds, interviews and other articles, and cartoons. Oui ceased publication in 2007.

Neva A. Gilbert was an American model. She was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for its July 1954 issue.

Sondra Theodore is an American model and actress. She was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for its July 1977 issue. Her centerfold was photographed by Ken Marcus. Her Playmate pictorial was the first to include the Data Sheets that Playmates had been filling out since 1959.

Ashley Cox is an American model and actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eugena Washington</span> American model (born 1984)

Eugena Washington is an American model. She was born in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. She was the last eliminated on America's Next Top Model, Cycle 7. She was named Playmate of the month for December 2015, and later Playmate of the year for 2016. She was the third black model to be given the title, the first to be named in Playboy's post-nude era, and the last Playmate of the year to be chosen by Hugh Hefner himself at the Playboy Mansion, before he stepped down from the company in late 2016 and his son, Cooper Hefner, briefly succeeded him before Hugh's death in 2017. She appeared in the music video of rapper B.o.B's single "Nothin' on You".

References

  1. ↑ "Centerfold". Merriam-Webster .
  2. ↑ "Hugh Hefner Profile". People in the News. CNN. Retrieved July 21, 2008.
  3. ↑ "The Playboy FAQ: The First Issue". World of Playboy. Playboy. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011.
  4. 1 2 Slade, Joseph W. (2001). Pornography and sexual representation: a reference guide. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 581. ISBN   0-313-31520-5.
  5. 1 2 "Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story". n+1 . January 13, 2009. Retrieved January 24, 2009.
  6. ↑ Kelly Dennis, Art/porn: a history of seeing and touching, Page 97, 2009, ISBN   1847880673
  7. ↑ Jordan, Candace (April 10, 2015). "Playboy's Hugh Hefner turns 89: A Grateful Playmate Reminisces". chicagonow.com. Chicago Tribune Media Group. Archived from the original on December 26, 2015. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  8. ↑ Cheung, Kevin (October 6, 2000). "Fresh Digital". The Age. Melbourne, Australia: Fairfax Media. p. 95. Based on the comic book series by Ninja Turtles creators Laird and Eastman (and starring Penthouse Pet Julie Strain), Heavy Metal FAKK 2 is an adventure that offers enough high-tech violence and brazen sexual innuendo to put Lara Croft to shame.
  9. ↑ "Vote For The Best Man". Blueboy. Miami, FL. January–February 1979. Each man has appeared in a centerfold spread during the past year, and now it's Readers' Choice as to which one will be the Blueboy Man Of The Year and win $5000!
  10. ↑ "Solid Gold Supertart Diane Bentley". Cheri. New York, NY. January 1984.
  11. ↑ Davis, Elroy (June 1957). "Duchess Of The Month". Duke. Vol. 1, no. 1. Duke Publishing Co. p. 33.
  12. ↑ "Girl Next Door of the Month". Gallery. Vol. 30, no. 8. Montcalm Publishing Corporation. August 2002. p. 30.
  13. ↑ "The Playgirls". Genesis. Vol. 3, no. 11. Genesis Publications. June 1976. p. 49.
  14. ↑ "Society's Child Sandy". High Society. New York, NY: Drake Publishers. December 1983. p. 40.
  15. ↑ Ward, Robert (2012). Renegades: My Wild Trip from Professor to New Journalist with Outrageous Visits from Clint Eastwood, Reggie Jackson, Larry Flynt, and other American Icons. F+W Media. p. 130. ISBN   978-1-4405-3314-3.
  16. ↑ "Brigitte Lahaie Maid of the Month". Knave. Vol. 11, no. 5. London: Knave Publications, Inc. Ltd. May 1979.
  17. ↑ "La Fille du Mois". luimagazine.fr. Lui Web SARL. Archived from the original on April 5, 2016. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  18. ↑ Mandate Calendar 1981, Mavety Media, 1980, A Mandate Man for every month
  19. ↑ "Jamie-Lee Girl of the Month". Mayfair. Vol. 28, no. 4. London: Paul Raymond Publications. April 1993. p. 50.
  20. ↑ "Men Only Girl: Miss Arabella Hart". Men Only. Vol. 40, no. 1. London: Paul Raymond Publications. 1975.
  21. ↑ "Françoise La Ragazza del Mese". Playmen. Rome, Italy: Tattilo Editrice S.p.A. August 1969.
  22. ↑ "Treat of the Month". twistysvixens.com. LemmeCheck Adult Network. August 1, 2005. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  23. ↑ "Center spread". Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Merriam Webster. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
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