The Femlin is a character used on the Party Jokes page of Playboy

Playboy

Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...

magazine.

History

Femlins were created by LeRoy Neiman

LeRoy Neiman

LeRoy Neiman is an American artist known for his brilliantly colored, pseudo-expressionist paintings and screen prints of athletes and sporting events.- Early years :...

 in 1955 when publisher/editor Hugh Hefner

Hugh Hefner

Hugh Marston "Hef" Hefner is an American magazine publisher, founder and Chief Creative Officer of Playboy Enterprises.-Early life:...

 decided the Party Jokes page needed a visual element. The name is a portmanteau of "female" and "gremlin

Gremlin

A gremlin is an imaginary creature commonly depicted as mischievous and mechanically oriented, with a specific interest in aircraft. Gremlins' mischievous natures are similar to those of English folkloric imps, while their inclination to damage or dismantle machinery is more...

." They are portrayed as mischievous black and white female sprites, apparently ten to twelve inches tall, wearing only opera gloves, stockings and high heel shoes. They are usually drawn in two or three panel vignettes, interacting with various life-sized items such as shoes, jewelry, neckties and such.

Femlins have appeared on the Party Jokes page in every issue since their creation, and were featured on the magazine's cover numerous times, either as drawn by Neiman or in photographed tableaus of sculpted clay models.

Merchandising

Femlins have been featured on a variety of merchandise throughout the years, such as ashtrays, shotglasses, and coffee mugs. A set of four plaster statues, the tallest approximately 14" high, was advertised for sale in the back pages of Playboy in 1963. (Like the drawings on which they were based, these statues were not anatomically detailed.) Originally priced at US$7.50 apiece in 1963, a complete set of the four statuettes was auctioned off by Leland's auction house in June of 2004 for US$7,904.80, according to a Google

Google

Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...

cache of the auction.

In 2004, Playboy produced a new, updated sculpt of a Femlin sitting in a champagne glass. Though now out of production, these are extremely common, and should not be confused with the older figurines.