Before the bond

Abstract

This chapter begins by recognising the apparent coincidence that both James Bond and Playboy magazine first entered popular culture in 1953. It goes on to make the case that this can in fact be explained with reference to the publishing industry, certain influences on the lives and imaginations of creators Ian Fleming and Hugh Hefner, and the social and cultural climate of the post-war era. The strong coincidence of Fleming’s first Bond novel, Casino Royale, and Hefner’s Playboy being published in the same year, though on opposite sides of the Atlantic, appears less accidental when understood within the wider context of the 1950s, as do the changes that were made to the pre-existing literary formulas of the spy thriller and the men’s magazine. Looking at the post-war contexts of Britain and America, the chapter demonstrates that the early Bond novels and Playboy negotiated aspects of the changing social and cultural circumstances in similar ways, creating a playboy lifestyle fantasy that celebrated independence from the traditional breadwinner ideal.