Shel Silverstein's Contributions to Playboy Magazine

After Shel Silverstein finished his two year stint with the Army (amidst the publication of his first book, Take Ten) he started work in 1956 for Playboy created and run by fellow Chicago native Hugh Hefner. He was a regular contributor from then on, dropping off somewhat in the 1970s when other pursuits like songwriting, authoring books for children, and playwrighting took precedence. His last contribution to Playboy before his death appeared in the January 1998 issue: "Hamlet as Told on the Street", a reworked version of the 1990 play. However, in the January 2001 issue, a previously unpublished epic poem called "Topless Town" was published, with illustrations by Arnold Roth. In the his forty-plus years with the magazine, Silverstein contributed cartoons, satire,poems, articles from far-flung places in his role as Playboy's international correspondent, and much more.

Below you will find a comprehensive (but likely not complete) listing of all of Shel Silverstein's contributions to Playboy. Some of the listings will have hyperlinks to the actual content, either on my site or elsewhere. If there are any factual errors or items missing, please email me.

The List

August 1956: "The Disguise"

December 1956: Confessions of an American Button Man

January 1957: unknown

May 1957: Return to Tokyo

July 1957: Silverstein in Scandinavia

October 1957: Silverstein in London

January 1958: Silverstein in Paris

March 1958: Silverstein in Moscow

November 1958: Silverstein in Switzerland

March 1959: Silverstein in Spain

April 1959: Silverstein Fights a Bull

August 1959: Silverstein among the Arabs

July 1959: "Teevie Jeebies"

October 1959: Silverstein in Africa

1959: "The Scarf"

April 1960: unknown

May 1960: "The Distortion" (appears in "Now Here's My Plan)

June 1960: "The Cork"(appears in "Now Here's My Plan")

August 1960: "The Golfer" (appears in "Now Here's My Plan")

September 1960: Silverstein in Greenwich Village

October 1960: The Character Actor(appears in "Now Here's My Plan")

November 1960: Good Grief! Still More Teevee Jeebies

1960: "The Humorist", "The Bank Robber", "The Commercial", "the Quiet Man"

January 1961: unknown

May 1961: Silverstein in Alaska

June 1961: Silverstein in Hawaii

July 1961: Bride of Teevee Jeebies

August 1961: Uncle Shelby's ABZ Book

November 1961: Teevee Jeebies

December 1961: Napoleon in Russia

February 1962: Silverstein's Zoo

March 1962: I Was a Teenage Teevee Jeebie

April 1962: The Mad Scientist

May 1962: Marriage

June 1962: Silverstein Plays Ball (hanging out with the Chicago White Sox) and "Teevee Jeebies Around the Clock"

August 1962: Teevee Jeebies Meets the Wolfman

November 1962: unknown cartoon

March 1963: Silverstein in Miami

April 1963: Meanwhile, Back at the Teevee Jeebies

May 1963: unknown Satire

June 1963: unknown Teevie Jeebies

July 1963: Road to Teevie Jeebies

August 1963: Silverstein in a Nudist Colony

October 1963: Gone With the Teevee Jeebies

November 1963: Lafcadio, the Story of a Lion Who Shot Back

January 1964: History of Playboy, Part I

February 1964, History of Playboy, Part II

March 1964: History of Playboy, Part III

April 1964: La Dolce Teevie Jeebies

May 1964: The Creature from the Black Teevie Jeebies

June 1964: Uncle Shelby's Scout Handbook

July 1964: It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Teevee Jeebies

September 1964: The Wonderful World of Teevee Jeebies

November 1964: Anatomy of a Teevee Jeebie

January 1965: Uncle Shelby's Kiddie Corner

March 1965: Silverstein in Mexico

April 1965: Send me no Teevie Jeebies

June 1965: Teevee Jeebies, Please Come Home

August 1965: Silverstein at Fire Island

September 1965: What's New--Teevee Jeebies

December 1965: The Silverstein Songbook:

contains "Plastic", "Yowzah", "Ever Lovin' Machine", "Who's Been Scorin?", and "Yellow Haired Woman"

May 1966: May Lord Love a Teevie Jeebie

October 1966: Who's Afraid of Teevie Jeebies

December 1966: The Silverstein Songbook:

-contains "The Clam","I Don't Know Which Way I'm Going", "Everybody Got Some But Me", "If You Can't Do It",

"Never Bite A Married Woman On The Thigh", "Jaded" and "The Mermaid".

June 1967: Silverstein in London

July 1968: Silverstein Among the Hippies

August 1968: More Silverstein Among the Hippies

December 1970: The End

January 1971: Silverstein Around the World

January 1973: The Song of Songs Which is Silverstein's:

contains "Don't Give a Dose to the One You Love Most", "I Got Stoned and I Missed It", "Liberated Lady 1999",

"The Man Who Got No Sign", "Masochistic Baby", "The Perfect Wave", "Stacy Brown Got Two", and

"Thumbsucker"

December 1973: Silverstein Meets Mother Goose

January 1978: The Smoke Off

January 1979: The Devil and Billy Markham

July 1979: The Perfect High

September 1979: Numbers

October 1979: The Diet

November 1979: "Escape" (previously appeared in "Different Dances")

December 1979: The Winner and "Teach Your Children Well" (previously appeared in "Different Dances")

January 1980: "The Deadly Weapon"

February 1980: "Paintin' Her Fingernails"

March 1980: "Uncle Don" and cartoon previously appearing in "Different Dances"

April 1980: "Some Enchanted Evening" (previously appeared in "Different Dances")

June 1980: "My Fear of Dentists" (previously in "Different Dances")

November 1980: California C's

December 1981: Rosalie Good Eats Cafe

December 1982: The Twenty Commandments

January 1989: Silverstein's Zoo

March 1994: Silverstein's Zoo

December 1996: New St. Nick

January 1998: Hamlet as Told on the Street

January 2001: Topless Town