The Origin of the Playboy

Hugh Hefner

A boy attending high school and then enlisting in the US Army to serve his country in World War II is a start that thousand other boys of his age went through.

A student of art at the Chicago Art Institute and then a humble worker for many magazines was the start of a glorious story. Hugh Marston Hefner, born in April 9, 1926 was a comic fanatic. He used to sit down and write monster stories and dabbed seriously with comics. With a genius IQ of 152, he focused more on extra curricular activities such as starting a school paper, writing, drawing animation, and serving as president of the student council. His future seemed bleak when he landed a job as a promotion copywriter at Esquire in 1951. When the magazine moved its offices to New York, he chose to remain behind and start a magazine of his own. From that point on, the rest, as they say, is history.

The first issue of Playboy magazine, featuring the now-famous calendar photo of Marilyn Monroe, was produced on a kitchen table in his South Side apartment. Hitting newsstands in December 1953, it carried no cover date because Hefner was not sure when or if he would be able to produce another. But the first issue sold more than 50,000 copies — enough to pay for the costs and finance another issue. Thus began the impressive life of Hef and his globally notorious magazine. Playboy’s original title was to be Stag Party, but an unrelated outdoor magazine, Stag, contacted Hefner and informed him that they would legally protect their trademark if he were to launch his magazine with that name. The famous logo, depicting the stylized profile of a rabbit wearing a tuxedo bow tie, was designed by art designer Art Paul for the magazine’s second issue and has appeared on every issue since. Hefner said that he chose the rabbit as a mascot for its “humorous sexual connotation,” and because the image was “frisky and playful.” The best-selling Playboy edition was the November 1972 edition, which sold 7,161,561 copies. One-quarter of all American college men were buying the magazine every month. Today, Playboy is still the largest selling men’s magazine, selling about three million copies a month in the U.S.

first issue of Playboy magazine

Image Source : dyn1.heritagestatic.com

Sadly in India the playboy magazine was banned as in most countries around India such as mainland China, Myanmar, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, and Brunei. So my fellow Indian readers, we don’t have a piece of the pie. In bookstores throughout the world, it is common for Playboy, as well as other adult publications, to be put on a higher shelf than other magazines, thus keeping them out of the reach of most children. They are also often wrapped in opaque plastic bags so as to not reveal the cover. Very interesting fact indeed. Another interesting fact is that Peter Sellers is the first man to feature on the cover of the magazine on April, 1964. Women from all spheres of life have featured on the coveted cover page, be it music, film, television or even sports.

The success of Playboy magazine has led to other versions of the magazine, the Special Editions (formerly called News Stand Specials), such as Playboy’s College Girls and Playboy’s Book of Lingerie, as well as the Playboy video collection. The growth of the Internet prompted the magazine to develop an official web presence called Playboy Online or Playboy.com, which is the official website for Playboy Enterprises, and an online companion to Playboy magazine. The site has been available online since 1994. In September 2005, Playboy launched the online edition of the magazine Playboy Digital.Hugh Hefner

Image Source : media3.s-nbcnews.com

Now, Christie Ann Hefner is the chairman and chief executive officer of Playboy Enterprises Inc., the company created by her father Hugh Hefner. Hef (as he prefers to be called) maintained a lifestyle suiting his magazine. With a gallery of girlfriends and still managing to keep everyone of them happy he made a legend out of himself even in his personal life. Before his wedding, Mildred (his wife) told Hefner that she had had an affair; he has called the admission “the most devastating moment of [his] life.” Hefner revealed she allowed him to have sex with other women, out of guilt for her infidelity and the hopes that it would preserve their failing marriage. After his first marriage, Hefner’s self-promoted public persona became that of womanizer and party animal. He has said that during some years, he was “‘involved’ with maybe eleven out of twelve months worth of Playmates.” After his separation from Conrad (his second wife), Hefner began living with an ever-changing coterie of women, ranging in age from 18 to 28. He told Vanity Fair: “And here’s the surprise bit—it’s what they want!”

Why Playboy became a legend. Hefner said it had “The stuff that dreams are made of”. The mascot “bunny rabbit” is so famous that there is a subspecies of Cottontail rabbit named in his honor (Sylvilagus palustris hefneri).

At the age of 82 years Hef still has many girlfriends and a public appearance draws more girls than most male celebrities draw. A tribute to the never ending fantasy of men.

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