The Playboy Story

Hugh Hefner’s parents were teachers and he grew up in a conservative household.He worked on an army news paper in his service days and took creative writing lessons at university.He then went to work as a copywriter for Esquire.He quit Esquire in being denied a $5 raise.

Out on his own Hefner was determined to start his own publication, one that was similar to Esquire but better.

He mortgaged his furniture to raise a bank loan of $600 and raised $8,000 from 45 investors—including $1,000 from his mother,who believed in her son rather than his crack-pot idea—to launch Playboy magazine.

Hefner wanted to name the magazine “Stag Party” but was forced to change it to avoid a trademark infringement with the existing Stag magazine. A friend suggested the name “Playboy,” after a defunct automobile company in Chicago. Hefner liked the name, as he thought it reflected high living and sophistication.

Hefner produced the first edition of Playboy out of his Hyde Park, Chicago, kitchen. It hit newsstands in December 1953, but did not carry a date because Hefner was unsure as to whether or not a second issue would be produced. To help ensure its success, Hefner had purchased a color photograph of actress Marilyn Monroe in the nude—which had been taken before her movie star career—and placed it in the centerfold of the magazine. The first issue quickly sold 50,000 copies, and became an instant sensation.