Snow Goer 1968-69: New Rides & A Visit To The Playboy Club

50th-finalSnow Goer magazine was launched as the first national snowmobile magazine 50 years ago. To celebrate, Snow Goer is taking readers on a volume-by-volume walk through the history of snowmobiling, as captured on the magazine’s pages. Below is the review of the 1968-69 publishing season. Other years will be also be published — use SG@50 in the search bar on the website to find them.  Here’s a link to the opening section; and here’s a link to the 1966-67 section

1968-69

It isn’t entirely clear whether snowmobiling was as much of the “in” thing as Snow Goer founders Ed and Susie Scholwin regularly portrayed in their magazine, but after visiting the Lake Geneva Playboy Club Hotel in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, they were convinced that snowmobiling had expanded beyond its rural beginnings and become part of the sophisticated, urban scene, said an article in the March-April 1969 issue.

1969 Snow Goer cover
Snow Goer was invited to the Lake Geneva Playboy Club when it was an elite destination in its day.

The Snow Goer crew not only rode a fleet of rental snowmobiles around the 1,000-acre resort, but it also enjoyed the hospitality of Playboy Bunnies Britt, Jade, Monika, Sandy, Suzy, Tanya, Taume and Wendy. The resort is no longer affiliated with the iconic men’s magazine, but it still has ties to snowmobiling as it hosts the annual ISOC Amsoil Championship Snocross season finale race.

The late ’60s were influential years for the snowmobile industry. Yamaha entered the snowmobile market with the 1968 SL 35-0 model, and specs and advertisements for the 1969 SL 35-1 appeared in fall 1968 issues. The cover price of Snow Goer was $0.75.

An average snowmobiler was, according to a survey conducted by Snow Goer and published in the fall 1968 issue, a 31-year-old male who earned $7,500 per year, and he paid $900 for his 16.5 hp sled. Joe Snowmobiler hunted, fished and was a high school graduate. Other hobbies included cooking, chess, interior decorating (?!), parachuting and taxidermy.

Ariens snowmobiles
This Ariens snowmobile ad appeared in the magazine in the 1968-69 publishing season.

One thought on “Snow Goer 1968-69: New Rides & A Visit To The Playboy Club

  • Avatar for Norm Ward

    Thanks for the memories. Around 68-69 as a young kid I got hooked on snowmobiling buying a used 64 skidoo with paper route money. I couldn’t get enough!
    My Dad used to pick up snowmobile magazines for me on his way home from work. I am not sure if it was a snogoer issue but one particular cover featuring a 69 motoski ( twin round headlights) really got my attention. The picture as I remember was of the above mentioned machine taken from above and one or two people looking down from a cottage deck at the machine arriving ( or departing).
    I sure would like to see that magazine cover again for some reason.

    Reply

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