month during a semester of graduate school at northwestern university hefner focused on the issue of personal freedom and wrote a paper on sex laws in america at northwestern he met and married fellow student named mildred williams they had two children christie and david before divorcing in 1959 launching his career hefner struggled after college trying to sell his cartoons and eventually landing a job as a chicago department store copywriter in 1951 he got a copywriting job at esquire a mens magazine known for its articles and its illustrations after two years with esquire moving its offices to new york hefner asked for a 5 raise and was turned down esquire left but hefner stayed in chicago determined to start a mens magazine of his own hugh hefner and cooper hefner attend the annual midsummer nights dream party at the playboy mansion on aug 16 2014 in holmby hills california christopher polkgetty images birth of playboy in 1953 hefner scraped together 8000 from family and friends including 1000 from his mother and in december of that year he published the first issue of playboy producing the magazine at the kitchen table of his apartment that first issue featured a nude pinup shot of marilyn monroe and the rest was history the magazine didnt even have a cover date on it because hefner wasnt sure there would be a second issue but that nowfamous first edition was an instant hit selling more than 50000 copies and making enough money to guarantee there would be more to come playboy with its mix of beautiful women lifestyle advice and literature was selling more than a million copies a month by the end of the 1950s playboy founder hugh hefner centre arrives at stansted airport june 2 2011 in stansted england dan kitwoodgetty images living the dream as the sexual revolution of the 1960s roared ahead hefner soon came to embody the playboy philosophy surrounding himself with young women partying with the rich and famous and wearing what became his trademark the silk smoking jacket he donned while he puffed on a pipe his empire was quickly growing beyond the magazine as playboy enterprises opened clubs with bunny hostesses built hotels invested in the entertainment industry and launched tv shows featuring hefner chatting with his guests his personal and professional views were put to the test in 1965 when hefner was charged with selling obscene literature for publishing nude photos of actress jayne mansfield but the charge was dropped after the jury failed to reached a verdict the swinging 70s the early 1970s proved to be the golden age for playboy and for hefner who took the company public as the magazine racked up sales of seven million copies a month the playboy mansions in chicago and los angeles became the stuff of legend and hefner flew around on his personal jet he called big bunny equipped with a disco sleeping space for 16 and his own round bed hefner spent more