Penthouse is a men's
magazine that was founded by Bob Guccione in 1965. It combines urban lifestyle
articles and soft-core pornographic pictorials, that eventually, in the 1990s
evolved into hardcore. Although Guccione was American, the magazine was founded
in 1965 in the United Kingdom, and started selling Penthouse
in the United States in September 1969. At the height of its success, Guccione
was considered to be one of the richest men in the United States.
For many years Penthouse fell somewhere in between Playboy
and Hustler in terms
of explicitness (and respectability). Almost from the start the pictorials showed
female genitalia and pubic hair when this was still considered by many to be
obscene. Simulated sex, but not penetration or male genitalia, followed, then,
several years later, male genitalia, including erections, could be seen. In
addition, Penthouse attempted to maintain some level of reading content, although
usually of a more sexually oriented nature than Playboy.
Probably the most famous issue of Penthouse
was its September 1984 issue, which was the largest selling issue of any
magazine in history. This issue featured photos of Vanessa Williams, who was
the current Miss America, from early in her modeling career. Williams posed
for the series of black and white photos with another female model, engaging
in simulated lesbian acts. While Williams' pictures created the most publicity
at the time, the issue would later become even more controversial because of
its centerfold, Traci Lords. Lords posed nude for this issue at the beginning
of her career as an adult film star. It would later be revealed that Lords was
underage throughout most of her career in pornography and was only fifteen when
she posed for Penthouse. As a result, the issue is illegal to own if the centerfold
is intact, falling under the laws against child pornography. The September 1984
issue also featured an interview with John Travolta, a feature on Boy George,
and a pictorial on a pornographic actress, Hyapatia Lee.
In 1992, an issue between the magazine and United States Navy surfaced. The
United States Navy reacted negatively on the issues of circulation and distribution
around the military base. Distribution and sale of adult titles is said to be
inconsistent with the rules and regulations concerning sexual harassment and
human dignity.
The Military Honor and Decency Act signed by President Clinton in 1996 stated
that the Secretary of Defense may not permit the sale or rental of sexually
explicit material on property under the jurisdiction of the Defense Department.
Also, a 1998 Supreme Court ruling held that a military base is not a public
forum.
In 1998, caught between the widespread availability of pornography on the Internet
and the growing popularity of non-explicit "men's magazines" like
Maxim, Penthouse decided to change its format and began featuring sexually explicit
pictures (ie: actual oral and vaginal penetration). It also began to regularly
feature pictorials of female models urinating, which up until then had been
considered a defining limit of illegal obscenity as distinguished from legal
pornography. The new format ended up losing subscriptions and newsstand circulation
for the magazine.
Videocassettes gained popularity and the steady rise of the Internet are some
reasons that caused the steady decline of Penthouse Magazine circulation and
other pornographic magazines like Playboy Magazine and Hustler Magazine. The
Internet provided a cheaper and multiple avenues of satisfaction for customers
who sought privacy. After struggleing for years, in April 2002, Guccione announced
that Penthouse Magazine was going out of business.
On July 2003, Bob Guccione lost his famous Penthouse Mansion. The mansion was
composed of two townhouses built in 1879. Rebuilt in 1920s by Jeremiah Milbank,
it was one of the largest private residences in Manhattan. At the height of
prestige, Guccione bought the mansion in 1975.
On August 12, 2003, General Media, the parent company of the magazine, filed
for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In October 2003, it was announced that
Penthouse magazine was being put up for sale as part of a deal with its creditors.
In October 2003, an announcement of the sale of Penthouse Magazine circulated.
On October 4, 2004, General Media emerged from bankruptcy and was renamed the
Penthouse Media Group. It is now owned by Marc Bell, a south Florida real-estate
developer, who intends to soften the content of the magazine.
Starting with the January 2005 issue, Penthouse Magazine no longer showed pictures
of an explicit nature, being touted as an alternative to FHM Magazine. Penthouse
Magazine nixed explicitly nude photos of male and female genitalia. The change
improved the declining sales. However, sales still did not reach the same circulation
numbers of Penthouse Magazine at the peak of the magazine
In 2005, Penthouse Media Group had a total circulation of 326,358 copies. Penthouse
Magazine continues to increase sales as it works to become a competitor of the
adult entertainment genre. | 
