Back Issues: Cleo, July 1977

'Jimmy Cavaretta is flying high.  A guy who fulfilled every little boy's dream of running away to the circus and becoming one of the world's most exciting trapeze artists.'

Regular FH viewers are aware of my love of calendars.  I still love getting and giving calendars, especially at Christmas.  Thanks to the wonderful Michael Andrews73a, most of the features in my Calendar Men series are due to his extensive and thorough research.  Naked calendar hotties are the only subject Michael explores and investigates.  He recently began posting on DreamCap about the male centerfolds in Cleo magazine.  Michael welcomed me to share some of the results of his hard work!

I've featured some visuals from Cleo before, but never focused specifically on the magazine, or the men within it's pages.  For those unfamiliar with the magazine, Cleo was an Australian 'women's magazine'. First published in Australia in 1972, each monthly edition was geared towards a mature audience. 

Cleo became one of Australia's most iconic titles due to its mix of provocative content including detailed sex advice. 

Cleo was the first Australian women's magazine to feature non-frontal nude male centerfolds in 1972, Jack Thompson appeared as 'Mate of the Month.' (following American Cosmopolitan's nude centerfold of Burt Reynolds six months' earlier)  The centerfold turned out to be so popular, the planned 'one-off' featured became an essential part of the magazine and one of the reasons it became so popular.

When I saw Michael's archive of centerfolds, instead of staring with the beginning, and Jack Thompson, I decided to start with some favorites from the current month.  I also wanted to start with a model who also appeared in Playgirl around the same time.  Jimmy Jim)  Cavaretta appeared in as the magazine's centerfold in July of 1977.  In Cleo, the first five shots, are PG and relatively tame. Things get a little more revealing in his Playgirl spread.

Playgirl

Playgirl: January 1976
Man of the Month
Photography: Bob Seideman

As far as Jimmy's circus career, It all started when he was five and living in Florida in the U.S.A.  The US Parks and Recreation department sponsored a youth circus to develop potential circus talent.  Jimmy and his sisters went along, and given they all had talent, formed an act when they got older.  The Flying Cavarettas were the star attraction at Circus Circus in Las Vegas and from the on, the trapeze became Jimmy's passion and life. 

Jimmy's the catcher, so his sisters rely on his timing and strength to catch them at exactly the right moment and return them to the swinging bar on time and at the right angle.  His body and mind have been trained to cope with the incredible strain of repeatedly catching and throwing his sisters and handling the big top tension night after night.

When Cleo learned that this daring young man was traveling to Australia to be part of the Greatest Show on Earth, the decided to catch the act.  Give the risks he takes in the air, stripping dow,n for Cleo was a walk in the park.

Although 15 when he began flying in the air, by the time Jimmy posed for Playgirl, he was 26, and the act with his sisters a thing of the past.  Now, he's flying with his wife, one sister, and a brother-in-law.  Jimmy's also preparing for life beyond the circus tent by focusing on his love of music, especially the piano.  As you can see, still a risk taker, as when he posed for Cleo, their no full frontals, for Playgirl however, it wasn't only Jimmy's moustache that got totally peeled off.