To: pml1@yahoogroups.com
From: Mark Tomlonson
Date: Thu, 13 Mar 2003 09:54:52 -0500
Subject: [PML1] CC: Sandra Edwards

In Sandra Edwards' centerfold (March 1957) she's preparing for the 
dance. Now let's not make her late for her curtain!

The only thing really wrong with this centerfold is that it tries way 
too hard. There was a design ethic in the fifties that wanted to make 
things look like they were floating in space. Wire-legged furniture and 
the backgrounds in Warner Brothers cartoons are probably the most 
familiar examples. That's why we get a wall and floor both painted the 
same robin's egg blue. The red and black items are meant to "float" in 
front of this background. It takes skill and planning and work to pull 
this off, more work than should be evident in a pin-up. Instead of 
fantasy, it strikes a false note.

Sandra's been asked to try too hard to be sexy. Part of the problem is 
the "Oh you WOULD, would you!" attitude that passed for sexual 
sophistication at the time. Maybe I'm too young to appreciate it, but 
give me a natural smile over this any time.

Where it does succeed is in showing us a fairly attractive woman in the 
nude. Along those lines there are few, if any problems.

Photographer: Peter Gowland

Scoring:
Pin-up: 2.0
Erotic: 1.0
Artistic: 1.5

Overall: 1.6 out of 4.0

Cyber Club Portfolio Photo I like better than the Centerfold: # 1 
Everything wrong with the centerfold is corrected here. Why wasn't it 
used instead?

http://cyber.playboy.com/members/playmates/files/1957/03/centerfold-med.html
http://cyber.playboy.com/members/playmates/files/1957/03/01-lrg.html

Update:
In the year since I wrote this, I've spent more time with the 
centerfold. Sandra's smile no longer strikes me as falsely as it did 
then. I also want to emphasize that this is a really good way to show 
off Sandra's great legs.

Mark Tomlonson
Kalamazoo MI