Bettie Page became Playboy's first-ever fold-out centerfold model in January 1955, establishing a signature format for the magazine.
In January 1955, Bettie Page appeared in Playboy magazine as its first-ever fold-out centerfold model, a milestone that helped establish the fold-out centerfold as a defining feature of the publication for decades to come. At the time, Playboy was still a fledgling magazine, having launched only about a year earlier under founder Hugh Hefner, and this new visual format would go on to become one of its most iconic and enduring conventions.
Page's appearance was significant not only for the magazine's development but also for her own career trajectory. Already well known within the pin-up and fetish photography world through her work with photographer Irving Klaw, this appearance introduced her to a vastly wider mainstream audience and cemented her status as one of the preeminent pin-up models of the era.
The centerfold format itself became a cultural touchstone, shaping the visual language of glamour photography and influencing how women's bodies were presented in popular media for generations. Page's participation, at a time when discussions of sexuality in American media were fraught with censorship battles and moral panic, positioned her as both a beneficiary and a lightning rod within these debates.
Her image from this era remains one of the most reproduced and referenced in the history of pin-up photography, and this particular first helped launch a new era of visual marketing for adult-oriented publications.