For sale is a NEW OLD STOCK JUNE 1971 PLAYBOY MAGAZINE ISSUE in its original SHIPPING MAILER. It is rare to find a Playboys Back Issue in the original brown paper mailer. This magazine is in like new condition just as if it came straight from Hefner himself. A first rate Playboy collectible.
This 266-page issue includes a gallery of past Playmates of the Year from 1960 – 1970, including Claudia Jennings, Donna Michelle, Allison Parks, Victoria Vetri, Jo Collins, June Cochran, and Ellen Stratton. A fictional story by Ellery Queen. An interview with Hitler’s architect, Albert Speer. Issue also includes a full-page size Vargas Girl illustration.
By spring 1953, Hugh Hefner, a University of Illinois psychology graduate who had worked in Chicago for Esquire magazine writing promotional copy planned out the elements of his own magazine that he would call Stag Party. However, the publisher of an unrelated men’s adventure magazine, Stag, informed Hefner and that they would file suit to protect their trademark if he were to launch his magazine with that name. Hefner changed the magazine name to Playboy. The first issue, published in December 1953, was undated, as Hefner was unsure there would be a second. The first centerfold was Marilyn Monroe, although the picture used originally was taken for a calendar rather than for Playboy. The first issue sold for 50 cents a copy with a circulation of about 50,000 copies, quickly sold out in a few out in weeks. In 2002, a first issue in mint to near-mint condition sold for over $5,000.