Playboy Playmate Ashlyn Martin,1963,68 Handwritten Diaries,Letters;Frank Sinatra

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Playboy Playmate Ashlyn Martin,1963,68 Handwritten Diaries,Letters;Frank Sinatra:
$2995.00

Here we offer a fascinating trove of the authentic personal possessions of Playboy Playmate of April 1964, centerfold, Laura Lynn Hale, known to Playboy readers by the pseudonym, \"Ashlyn Martin.\" Central to this is a 1963 diary and an appointment book from 1968. Also included are myriad love letters, postcards, and telegrams, three on Playboy letterhead from Bobbie Arnstein, Playboy secretary, who in 1974 was scandalously found dead of a drug overdose under suspicious circumstances. Also included isa piece ofpersonalizednote paper \"From the desk of Frank Sinatra\" that has the name and phone number of his personal physician (and Marilyn Monroe\'s,) Dr. Leon Krohn-- along with abatch of large period glossy photographs of Laura, Ray Charles, TonyBennett, Count Basie, Hugh Hefner, and others together at a Chicago Playboy Club party; a promo shot of Laura; a poster-sized promo sheet for her 1964 Playboy appearance using the picture; Laura\'s felt Playboy logo and standard with a Playboy Club swizzle stick; Laura\'s death certificate (cause is not specified as it appears hers was a suicide;) 3 Playboy magazines that featured her; and a book about Hugh Hefner. The book, the magazines, and the death certificate were added to the original lot. I once spent some time trying to research this woman\'s life, but I just never found the time to complete the project.

The diary is truly notable, as Laura keeps a record of all her... well, I wouldn\'t exactly call them boyfriends... but surely when she started this diary she felt that way about them, but eventually she obviously becomes a more routine \"date.\" Though she does never speakexplicitly, it is obvious to the reader that in her constant movement between Chicago, Florida, Vegas, LA and New York she is a regular sex partner to Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and Eddie Fischer, at first harboring romantic illusions, and later resigning to a more routine relationship. She notes monies and favors received from them and it looks like Sinatra even got her a bit part in his own teenaged daughter\'s movie, a Beach Blanket thing (\"For Those Who Think Young.\") Sinatra takes her to a recording session on July 24, 1963, which was for \"So In Love\" and \"Wonder How It Feels\" (a song about an older guy with a young woman.) The recording session checks out to the day.

By comparing the dates in the diary, it is clear Laura was 16 when she was first living in the Playboy mansion and when posing for her centerfold. The diary has all sorts of stormy trials going on, including her reaction to Kennedy\'s assassination and the kidnapping of Sinatra\'s son. She bails her mother out of a Ft. Lauderdale court; she worries about money and attempts suicide. There are famous names all over these books as she is always at clubs rubbing elbows and more with rich and famous people. It is a riveting read. There are about 300 entries in the 1963 book and about 120 pages that have been written in in the other book, which has many daily entries, addresses and phone numbers,accountingsof income and expenses and assorted other personal items. We see that Frank Sinatra is still a client in 1968.

This lot provides a fascinating insight into a time, place and person that will not recur—it is a riveting, authentic lot of Americana. It is more importantly the poignant expression of a real person with yearnings, poignant and tragic. It would make a stunning centerpiece to various collections, a font for a writing project, and certainly a savvy investment.

Please email me through if you would like to inspect the items in the Kingsbridge Heights section of New York City.

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