The Invention of Playboy Magazine
Hugh Hefner published the first copies of Playboy Magazine December of 1953 (Conklin). Who would have thought this magazine would be an instant success in a stereotypically prude era? In fact, Hugh doubted his magazine so much, he did not even put the date on the first issue. The first issue featured Marilyn Monroe, an iconic youth figure of the time. This magazine quickly sold all 72,000 copies (Conklin). This generation seemed to be seeking something like this magazine. It is a bit strange that such a provocative magazine would be so popular in such a prude era.
The youth of the 1950s seemed to be secretly sex crazed. Hugh Hefner himself even stated, "Playboy came at the right time, when the United States was experiencing a sexual revolution. My naked girls became a symbol of disobedience, a triumph of sexuality, an end of Puritanism" (Conklin). The youth of the 1950s were beginning to stray away from the "pure" era and the invention of Playboy helped influence them to. Magazine has grown exponentially over the past 60 years, but it all began with the original 1953 issue. Sexuality may have been more censored in the 1950s, but it still existed.