Karen Christy

Over the years, a bevy of beautiful Playboy models have been able to call themselves Hugh M. Hefner’s girlfriend. One busty blonde who was on the Playboy founder’s arm for a couple of years was Karen Christy, our Miss December 1971. Before she was made our Playmate of the Month and Hefner’s main squeeze in the early Seventies, Karen was a small-town girl from Abilene, Texas with modern taste and a desire to see the world outside of her hometown. In 1969, the all-natural blonde packed up her belongings and moved to Denton for school, but soon reality set in and she realized living on her own and being a fulltime student were too costly for someone who only worked part-time. She eventually found herself in Dallas where she worked as a secretary until she found her calling—Playboy. “Some office friends convinced me to go,” explains Karen on how she ended up working as a Bunny at the Playboy Chicago Club. “In the beginning, I thought I'd made a bad mistake,” admits Karen. “My ambition is to college as a commercial art major. Eventually I'd like to have a happy marriage and a family.” School and a family will have to wait a little longer because this cottontail is enjoying theloads perks that come with being a Bunny at the Chicago Club like being asked to become our Miss December 1971. She was hesitant at first, but after pondering it over, she decided she’d be a fool not to take up this offer. “Right now, I live at the Playboy Mansion,” gushes our Playmate of the Month who was quickly made one of Hef’s girlfriends upon moving into the Bunny Dormitory in the Mansion. “The Mansion is fantastic. There's always something going on. The parties give me a chance to meet well-known people, entertainers, politicians, athletes: a great mix.” When she manages to have a night away from the duties of being a Bunny and Hef’s main girl, the all-natural blonde loves to let her creative juices flow. “In my spare time, I enjoy painting and sketching, as well as sewing, cooking and swimming,” she says. “Most nights at the Mansion, there's a movie showing. Also, I really like the company of the other girls. My friends say I am very quiet around strangers and very loud around close friends. I am usually very frank with people.” While Karen has become accustomed to the busy life of being a Playmate and a Bunny who works in Chicago, the one thing she cannot seem to adapt to is the cold weather. “It does snow in Texas, but very infrequently,” she says as she looks fearfully out the window at the falling snow, “and never like this.”