Karen Elaina Price

[ruderberry]

Originally Posted by cqnew1648

I found another beautiful publicity photo of Karen, published in the Regina LEADER POST.



I also found, however, a disheartening article that confirms how deeply Karen regretted her decision to become a PM, and how hard her first months on the “appearance” trail were for her, thanks to the crude and nasty behavior of many of the men she encountered.



The article, which appeared in the MORNING NEWS of Wilmington, Delaware, on February 26, 1981, was about Jo Ann Safford, Miss Delaware 1980. She worked at the time as an assistant for magician Jimmy Dixon. She had graduated from the University of Delaware, but she decided that she didn’t want to teach. She took acting classes, entered the Miss America pageant, and for a lark (and an entrée into show business) took a year off to get sawed in half or disappear magically at auto shows in Canada and the US. She had a wonderful time in the limelight on Dixon’s tour, but she realized her experience was quite different from that one of her best friends, Karen Price. They became “good friends” because Karen appeared at the same auto shows that Ms. Safford did. Here, sadly, is what Ms. Safford had to say about Karen’s experience.

“Men would say the weirdest things to her. She would try to laugh it off, but she came to my room at night to cry.”

The rest of the interview with Ms. Safford was an implicit indictment of the way PB treated Karen and allowed her to be treated. Ms. Safford had nothing but praise for her own employer, Jimmy Dixon, and the way he treated her and his other female assistant. They travelled everywhere with Dixon and his 18-year old son, who was learning the business. Dixon treated them as his daughters, and was as “protective” of them as he was of his son. They always appeared first on stage in evening gowns, before donning leotards for the more athletic portions of the program. And whenever they went out into the crowd after a performance, he insisted that they wear their evening gowns, and he was with them every step of the way, to ensure they were treated with respect. Ms. Safford didn’t say anything specific about how PB handled such matters, but she didn’t have to: she was saying that PB fed Karen and her fellow Playmates to the wolves.

Does anyone know what kind of support PMs had from PB when they went on the road? Did they leave it to the auto show organizers themselves, and hence to people who had no financial interest in hiring security staff or in telling their customers what they could and couldn’t say to Playmates? That was PB’s job, and it seems they may have dropped the ball. Then again, as they’ve shown in recent years, they don’t quite know how to run a business, so it’s not surprising!

I’m sure there were PMs who toughed out the bad behavior better than Karen did, but they shouldn’t have had to. And I’m sure there are probably fans who would say that Karen should have known what she was getting into. But as we’ve shared, most PMs of her era were, like Karen, wonderful girls-next-door, who were treated with affection and respect by nearly everyone they knew. Yes, she loved to turn men on, and she enjoyed the power her beauty gave her. But it would have been a shock for Karen to find that so many men would treat her shabbily (and I’m being euphemistic here) for agreeing to be their dream girl. Karen was sensitive to a fault—a strength in her personal life, in her art, and in the emotional power of her shoots for PB—but a brutal liability in her time on the road and at the Mansion as a PM.

Anyway, this all makes me sad for Karen, and angry. All the VEF fans I’ve gotten to know through private messages and Karen’s discussion thread are standup guys who understand the difference between fantasy and reality, and adore the PMs they’re stuck on. The behavior Karen suffered makes me mad—so wrong, so uncalled for, so undeserved. As a friend on VEF put it, young women like Karen leave themselves vulnerable when they share their beauty with the world, and they place great trust in us as men to treat them with respect and to appreciate the playful spirit in which they posed. As my friend said, “It was a violation of trust for men to act that way.”

But part of the fault is probably ours: most of us were too shy or embarrassed to show up at car shows, which left the PMs we admire at the mercy of jerks who weren’t shy about being jerks. I wish Karen had known, and knows today, how her true fans feel about her. We will always admire her and pray for the best for her. Just a shame the way it turned out.

Thanks for this new material! The first item refers to an interview with Miss Price on two later pages of the same edition of the Regina Leader Post, so I wonder if you were able to find that interview?

As for the second piece, it's always troubling to discover further evidence of distress she experienced. I hope to discuss this subject more in a separate post.

[profvolup]

Originally Posted by ruderberry

As for the second piece, it's always troubling to discover further evidence of distress she experienced. I hope to discuss this subject more in a separate post.

Men have never benefited from treating women poorly or pressuring them to do or deal with anything they have not wanted. It's always only been self-defeating.

I guess that's why I've alwaysgotten myself 'into trouble' with a lot of guys over saying, 'knock it off.' Not because I was judging them, but because I knew what they were doing was only hurting all of us men, in addition to their targets more directly.

It's now much better today, but back in the '80s and even some of the '90s, oh man. Although the new problem is that people are now arguing basic sexuality as wrong, as associating lust-from-afar as violating women.

They are literally destroying the entire reality that we are sexual creatures, and the focus should be on consent and unwanted advances, not just sexuality in general. And just like men used to do things that were self-defeating, women are now having to deal with the same in that regard.

Pisses my wife off to no end.

[cqnew1648]

I thought it would be a nice idea to congratulate Karen for reaching two million views on VEF.



Yes, I admit a few hundred of Karen’s views were mine. I look in on Karen’s threads regularly, as do many of her fans, but the same is true, I’m sure, for every popular softcore model. Only one other PM who appeared exclusively in PB has reached 2 million views: Candy Loving. Only one other softcore model (out of 7,346 models) has as high a thread rating on VEF: Patti McGuire. Indeed, Karen is one of only 10 softcore models with 100,000 or more views to have a rating of “5.” And to top it off, Karen has the second most viewed discussion thread among softcore models (over a quarter of a million views, only behind a thread for an entire category of models)--one of only 4 discussion threads (out of 332) to rate a "5." We voted Karen “the Ultimate Playmate” on our old Playmates4Ever Yahoo Group, before PB fans migrated to VEF; and Marialva discovered that Karen’s centerfold is the most liked and shared on Playboy’s official tumblr site. No other PM comes close.

What’s all the more remarkable about Karen’s popularity is that PB did little to promote her, beyond inviting her to participate in the Dear PM column when it was launched. That’s not to say, of course, that Candy and Patti don’t deserve the attention they have received. They are extraordinary, and among my five favorite PMs. But PB has released many more photos of Candy and Patti than they have of Karen, and PB put them on the cover, granted them each two layouts and several features in the magazine, released their test shots, and honored them respectively as 25th Anniversary PM and as POY. Karen soared to the top on VEF, and on other websites, all by herself. She’s a fan favorite, pure and simple.



Because Karen was never “famous,” and never in the public eye in the way Candy and Patti were, I suspect that her fan base may be narrower, yet more devoted. Karen’s the obsession of many of PB’s most knowledgeable (and I’d like to think discerning) fans. Vintage aficionados can’t stop thinking about Karen, talking about Karen, and yes, to be honest, fantasizing about Karen. And because Karen was so candid in her interviews and Dear PM columns, and because we’ve been able to follow her acrobatic career on the Internet, she’s given us a rare gift—a chance to know her as a person. That’s how her fans think of her—as an accomplished person we care about and feel a connection with, if from afar. Those feelings of intimacy and respect matter to her fans, and those feelings, perhaps more than anything, are the reason why we find her beauty, and the intimacy of her performance before PB’s cameras, so alluring.

I’ve tried, as have others, to put into words what makes Karen special. We’ve gone on and on about how beautiful she is. But on this occasion, I can’t help but speak about the joy she so obviously felt during her shoots.



Karen let us know in every photo that she wanted to be nowhere else but on those sets, putting on a show.



And lest we forget, Karen, the loveliest and most adorable Girl-Next-Door ever to grace Playboy, was totally game. I’d never seen a PM pose like that. Karen overwhelmed me with her devastating display of raw sexual power.



It’s hard to know how Karen got to that point, emotionally. Few PMs did. But by the time Karen stepped onto her first set, her inhibitions had melted away. She was “with the program,” in every wonderful way. She believed, I have every feeling, in the art and in the work, and in the higher purpose of Playboy: to celebrate our humanity, sensuality, and sexuality, in fantasy and in life. She trusted us, as fans, to enjoy her in that spirit. Yet she loved the fun and frolic of Playboy too. She couldn’t hide her glee as she romped on its storied stage, and she didn’t try. She performed with abandon, as provocatively as she could within the bounds of PB’s art, and gave us our heart’s desire.

Karen was a rare Playmate. She truly wanted to play—with the camera, with her body, and with us. She denied it, of course, to herself and to everyone who would listen in the months after she appeared, but her photos betrayed her. At that heady moment in her life, Karen reveled in the lust men felt for her and in the opportunity Playboy gave her to dazzle the world with her beauty and fabulous body, and to tease, tempt, and thrill millions of men.



Playboy, because of its class, prestige, and elegant artwork, gave Karen, as it did every young Playmate as wholesome and concerned for her reputation as she, a chance to enjoy her sexuality and her power over men without sacrificing her honor. Indeed, as her family knew, and as Karen came to feel, being a Playmate was itself a great honor, one of the most coveted a young woman with Karen’s talents and ambitions could receive at a time when Playboy was still at the heart of our culture, even for many women. A-list actresses, distinguished writers, and eminent people who sat for interviews added luster to every issue, including Karen’s. She appeared with Barbara Bach, Ray Bradbury, Frank Herbert, Roy Blount, Jr., George McGovern, and John Lennon and Yoko Ono—and stole the show. As a friend on VEF put it, in my slight paraphrase,

Playboy was good at enabling good girls like Karen to express their inner desire to pose nude and turn men on, while not making them feel cheap about themselves. Once Karen felt secure, and certain that she was not jeopardizing her honor by posing, she was free to do what she really wanted to do at her core: turn men on. It took her weeks to feel comfortable about what she was about to do, but when the time came, Karen wanted that more than anything.



Karen proved that a “good girl” could be a Playmate, a real Playmate. She let go, despite her fears, and performed so marvelously, so willingly, so generously, so sincerely, so proudly, so passionately, so bravely, so compellingly, so enthusiastically, so seductively, so artistically, and so endearingly, that her layout is a glory for the ages. And in so doing, she left us feeling not only lust for her, as she desired, but affection, respect, and admiration, as she, a wonderful young woman and a genuine girl-next-door, doubtless hoped.

[roger74]

Originally Posted by cqnew1648

I thought it would be a nice idea to congratulate Karen for reaching two million views on VEF.

An absolutely outstanding post CQ! Many thanks and of course congratulations to Karen, and sincere heartfelt thanks to her for sharing her beauty.

[ruderberry]

Although it's not easy to add to the praise already heaped on Miss Price in this thread, I'd like to contribute a few thoughts.

First up, January was often the month in which Playboy unveiled a spectacularly busty Playmate: 1970 (Jill Taylor - 37D), 1973 (Miki Garcia - 38D), 1975 (Lynda Kimball - 37C), 1977 (Susan Lynn Kiger - 37D), 1979 (Candy Loving - 37E), 1980 (Gig Gangel - 38E), and 1982 (Kimberly McArthur - 37E).

So while the presentation of Miss January 1981 was not, therefore, a complete surprise, the pictorial of Karen Elaina Price (38F) remains as compelling, stunning and jaw-dropping today as it was back then.

As blogger Jim Enos put it: "Not only was she beautiful, but she had the most perfect set of tits I had ever seen on a woman!" He added subsequently: "Not only is she a voluptuous, big-breasted vixen with perfect tan lines on a most ample derriere, but she is also an extremely attractive woman".

Her attractiveness, I think, comes from the way she radiates a charming persona in every image. She's young, healthy, life-affirming, friendly - and drop-dead gorgeous. If the expression "the total package" didn't exist, you'd have to coin it to capture her appeal.

Lest we forget, she may still have been only 19 when the shoot was made. This merely adds to the wonder of her poise, graceful elegance and self-assurance while posing fully naked.

And let's not take her nudity for granted (even though it's the default setting demanded of a Playmate). Many beautiful models, such as the magnificent Lucy Pinder, have confined themselves to topless poses, and there was no inevitability that Miss Price would peel off her panties.

We should be grateful that she decided to do so, despite the unease caused by her subsequent comments about her father's role in pointing her towards Playboy.

On the flip side of that coin, however, in her April 1981 interview with Janice Middleton, Miss Price confirmed that she decided to pose following encouragement from her mother, sister and grandmother. And the pictorial depicts a young woman at ease with herself and the decision she made - even if, as she said, the centerfold shot alone took 8½ hours, leaving her numb and in need of massage to restore the blood-flow through her legs.

So these are my initial thoughts, and I hope they don't duplicate views expressed earlier. I'll add some more about the pictorial itself when time permits.

[roger74]

Great post Ruderberry! Karen deserves the praise.
-Roger

[pbuw]

The beach set

[Marialva]

I think this should be published on main thread.

Originally Posted by pbuw

The beach set

Mod edit; The beach set is already in her thread .

[masque51]

This list does not include such things as Dear Playmates, World of Playboy, etc...

Playboy

January 1981 PMOM - page 158-169
November 1981 Subscription Ad
January 1982 "Playmate Review" - page 185
January 2000 "Centerfolds of the Century" - page 115
"Oui" ad January 1981

NSS

2ND 15 YRS - page 88
Blondes, Brunettes & Redheads 1985 - page 77
BOL3 - page 8
BOL10 - page 88
Celebrating Centerfolds #5 - page 75
Centerfolds of the Century - page 41
Girls of Winter 1984 - page 24, 33
Girls of Winter 1988 - page 101
Holiday Girls - page 8, 102
Pocket Playmates #3 - page 33
Sporting Women - page 36, 37
Voluptuous Vixen # 1 - page 32
Wet & Wild Women 1987 - page 46, 104-105

Foreign Playboy

Spain December 1980 "Next Month" - page 168
Australia January 1981 PMOM - page 82-93
Mexico January 1981 PMOM - page 44-55
Spain January 1981 PMOM - page 60 - 71
Japan February 1981 PMOM - page 133-145
Spain January 1982 "El Mundo de Playboy" - page 8
Australia March 1983 "PM Review" - page 126
Croatia January 2012 - page 136
Italy December 2012 - page 154-161
Poland March 2016 - page 118

Foreign NSS

Japanese Playmates Collection # 1 - page 2-9
France "Photo" magazine Vol 202 - page 70, 90
Die 100 Schonsten Playmates - page 46

Calendars

1982 Playboy Calendar January
1982 Japanese Playboy Calendar November
1983 Playboy Calendar March
1983 Advertising Calendar January
1984 Advertising Calendar March

[Patty Hearst]

Karen Price pretty much ruined the rabbit mag for me. Aside from a few others - Patty Farinelli, Alana Soares, Charlotte Kemp and one or two others who came close - they never found women whose sheer sexiness could top Karen and most fell FAR short of the mark. In my opinion Karen Price was as good as it got and it never got that good again.