Jessica Herman

"People have coined GlamourCon `Genuflection.' It's like genuflecting in church," says Bob Schultz as he describes the way that men kneel on one knee to speak to the women who sit behind tables at the conventions he holds at least once every year--an eyebrow-raising comparison for an event that sells vintage erotica and hosts between twenty to fifty Playmates for a weekend.

The former banker and self-described "event-planner" originally got into vintage erotica--calendars and posters from the forties and fifties that featured anyone from anonymous broads to stars like Rita Hayworth--when he was selling comics at trade shows for extra cash. Schultz returned to school for courses on events planning and started a travelling business in multiple cities, settling up for the most part in LA and Chicago. When Playboy king Hugh Hefner showed up at the first GlamourCon, a Playmate-less event, he suggested that Schultz invite the ladies of pinup to sign autographs at his party. Since then, Hefner and his bunnies, most who made their glossy debut in the sixties or seventies, have been entertaining a male-dominated cohort.

Eleven years since he started, Schultz describes the most satisfying aspect of his quirky endeavor: "When a middle-aged woman who was a Playmate comes up to me and says, `I never thought anyone would want to talk to me anymore.' There's an affinity for these women that transcends these women's age."

So as not to detract from the event's main attraction, GlamourCon always takes place in a modestly adorned ballroom, and the bunnies dress mostly in "business casual"--nothing too risqué. There's absolutely no nudity. Schultz lists off celebrities who are members of the "glamour" scene, like burlesque star Dita Von Teese, who is Marilyn Manson's fiancée, but doesn't guarantee that any stars will be spotted at the Holiday Inn O'Hare International this weekend for GlamourCon 34.

Other than shops like Quimby's and the rare comic-book stores, Schultz says it's difficult finding the kind of vintage erotica selection that his convention offers. "This is not a big hobby. It's more esoteric than bird watching," he concludes and adds that "birding" is his real passion.

GlamourCon takes place this Saturday and Sunday at the Holiday Inn at 5440 North River Road in Rosemont, (847)671-6350.

(2004-08-25)

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