They were known in Jamaica as the goddesses of satin.
Gorgeous, leggy and charming, their residence was The Playboy Hotel in Oracabessa, St Mary, (the present home of Boscobel Beach Hotel). Then, it was the playground of the international fabulocracy.

Thirty years ago Bridget Brown was one of Jamaica's gorgeous, leggy and charming Playboy Bunny at the Playboy Hotel (now Boscobel Beach Hotel) in Oracabessa, St Mary. Today Brown, who divides her time between the island and Switzerland, is known for her Bridget Sandals.

Former director of finance for the Playboy Hotel, Joe Hylton, now in the same capacity at The Wyndham Rose Hall, Montego Bay, recalls that "they were sought after by the most powerful men of the day. Men would sit all day at the Club just to meet them".

As we welcome Playboy Playmate Bunny Stacy Fuson to our shores, two former Jamaican bunnies, Robyn Sweeney and Bridget Brown, look back.

The excitement for Robyn Sweeney was not so much the fact that she was leaving Chapelton, Clarendon, to become a Bunny, but that the job would allow her a peek into the world of tourism.

Bridget Brown, on the other hand, was thrilled from the get-go. "I was not yet 20 when I met a Bunny at the beauty salon who thought that I too would make a great Bunny. The minute I saw the quaint fishing village of St Ann's Bay, I prayed hard that I would get the job."

Thirty years later, the two say they have absolutely no regrets. On the contrary, they acknowledge the fact that they were glorified waitresses but, says Sweeney, "It was a world in which I always felt safe. We had bodyguards who formed a protective cocoon around us.

Nobody could touch us. The Playboy policy was that we could have nothing to do with the guests. If a guest wanted to take us out the request had to be made through Bunny Mother and we always had to have a chaperone (another Bunny would have to accompany us)."

For Brown, the Bunny existence proved a perfect fit. "I started in 1972 and worked with the Playboy Hotel for five years. I was a Bunny, a trainer, acted as a Bunny Mother and worked up to 20 hours a day. There was no basic salary. We worked for tips."

These tips, she says, sometimes amounted to as much as J$10,000, nothing to sneeze at for that period. Tips this large, however, were recorded by Bunny Mother.

"The Bunny costume," continues Brown, "comprised the satin shell in yellow, blue, black, red, or rose pink with matching shoes. White was for special occasions. We also received the tuxedo collar and bow-tie cuffs, cuff links, ears, a bunny tail, a rosette, as well as the Playboy flashlight and pen."

Sweeney recalls how they were weighed and measured. "The costumes," interjects Brown, "had to fit perfectly".

"That also included the necessary padding," explains Sweeney, whose trainer was Helen Cardinal from Montreal, who ensured that her bunnies were as knowledgeable about the information in the Playboy manual as they were fabulous.

For Sweeney, the Bunny foray gave her "nuff confidence. I became Jamaica's Bunny Of The Year in 1973 and went to the Playboy Club in Chicago to participate in the international leg of the competition".

It didn't stop there. She was transferred to the Playboy Club at Lake Geneva in Wisconsin (Half Moon's General Manager Peter Komposch was the Food and Beverage Director at the property).
"I grew a whole lot, even when my knees were wobbling and my voice shaking as I introduced the great Sammy Davis Jr."

She met other music celebs such as Peggy Lee [of "Fever" fame], Liza Minelli, and Mick Jagger. Sweeney would later leave The Playboy Club to form part of the opening team of the formidable Mallards Beach Hyatt in Ocho Rios (now the Jamaica Grande).

Later, in Kingston, Sweeney held the powerful post of public relations and entertainment manager at the New Kingston Hotel (formerly the Sheraton Hotel).
Having been there, done that, she is now content to design comfortable clothing for the discerning woman.

Brown's name is synonymous in the region with boho chic sandals. This glam gal (our own Tina Turner) divides her time between Switzerland, where her two sons were schooled (and where her beau lives) and Jamaica, where she operates Bridget Sandals.

Brown and Sweeney will no doubt (particularly during their reunions) happily reminisce of the time when their ensemble was highlighted by a pair of ears, a tuxedo collar and a fluffy tail.

Feeding the multitude

DANGEROUS PETS

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