"I have a better statistic - apparently the pornographic film industry now makes more money than Hollywood.
That was simply not the case before Hefner came onto the scene. "
And Rock n Roll existed before the Beatles.
And the automobile existed before the Model T.
I'm not denying that - I do think, however, Hefner brought it out "into the open".
Regards, Ivan
What it really was was the introduction of the home VHS machine.
Print porn is barely hanging on these days. Hefner's money comes from the cable operation. Guccione's all but bankrupt. Flynt's wildly diversified.
My grandfather had a subscription to Playboy. I think he got it from the very first issue. They were stacked on a stand-up desk sort of thing behind the bottle green easy chair in the corner of the living room next to the fireplace. We were allowed to look at them. I'm not sure why. I think they didn't want us to think that women's bodies were dirty. It's even more interesting because my Uncle was/is a fag, and lived at home all his life, except when he bought a house across the street, but at some point he apparently sold it and moved back home. Probably when Grandpa died.
Weird family on my dad's side. They didn't tell us anything.