This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 8/6/2021
Touted as "Entertainment for Men", Playboy Magazine was founded by Hugh Hefner and his associates after he received partial funding of a $1,000 loan from his mother. Decades later, Hefner would build the magazine into a major financial empire that not only played a key role in the American sexual revolution but introduced short stories from notable authors, Arthur C. Clarke and Ian Fleming among them. The famed "Playboy centerfold" features a nude or semi-nude model, many of which went on to great fame in the entertainment industry, and interviews with notable figures from all professions gave the magazine impressive credentials as a serious periodical. Offered is issue #1 of Playboy magazine, signed by Hugh Hefner in black marker on the cover. Issued in December 1953, the magazine is not dated as Hefner was unsure there would be a second issue, and the known circulation was just under 54,000 copies. Of course, Marilyn Monroe in the nude centerfold spot didn't hurt sales and has become one of the most famous pictorials of the ill-later Hollywood starlet. The Magazine is in VG to VG/EX condition overall, intact but showing signs of fragility, specifically along the spine. A wonderful piece of Americana with full LOA from JSA.