Bob Guccione (1930–2010)

Let's begin with the obvious: It's a Men's Magazine.

This issue has 11 pages of what can be termed soft-core pornography (+ the obsequious centre-fold). It is after all a 'top shelf' publication so this is to be expected; still, for a Men's magazine the nude photography is no different than one would expect to find in an artist's book of nude poses. In fact, where the odd full frontal photograph would certainly be permitted in an art book, Penthouse's shots are (at this stage in the magazine's history) decisively less risqué. Although, I note a marked increase in the number of pages given over to tits and bums from the previous year, the editorial content still outweighs the naked females 3:1.

The main articles include:

A fascinating interview with Prof. Francis Camps on his life as The Post Mortem Professor. Points of interest in the interview are the drink driving laws and also his relationship with Sir Bernard Spilsbury - known for his involvement in The Crippen Case, as well as other subjects.

Next,

During the 60's, and profiting from the printing revolution of off-set lithography and photo-litho, small circulation papers could be produced for a fraction of their former cost. As little as 80 dollars for printing 5,000 copies of an eight-page black and white paper! All you then needed was a message; and with the general feeling among the youth population focusing on desent, corrupt politicians, the war in vietnam, censorship, repression, exposing the consumer society, and heaps of sexuality, many people regarded these 'rags' to be (as one Texan Congressman, Joseph Pool put it) "today's Molotov cocktail thrown at respectability and decency.".
This issue of Penthouse gets a Close-up of the underground press phenomenon not only in the U.S. but also back home in the U.K.
It was the reason I bought this issue.

Three pages of illustrative typography in Figuratively Speaking that is well worth a look if you are a fan of graphic design in true 60s style - which I am!
This was my second reason for getting this magazine.

A science fiction story by Pete Hammerton titled Sirens of Sappho - Sappho III --- a planet of girls, where an out-of-this-world welcome awaits a visiting spaceman...if he can make it through the flesh-consuming pingpods.
Not my main reason for picking up this issue of Penthouse. LOL!

A travel article on Tenerife in Canary Mellow.

The sexcess story of Old San Francisco is a historical account of the seedier side of the Barbary coast c.1850, taken from Stephen Longstreet's book 'The Wilder Shore'.

The fox who foolded the hounds is a fable of our time by Rory Harrity and reminded me a bit of Dahl's Fantastic Mister Fox.… (plus d'informations)

All in all there are around 6 pages of tits and bums, and a centre-fold - because, well... It's Penthouse; but these were the days when Penthouse really was a genuine gentlemen's magazine full of really interesting articles and satire, fiction writing, interviews, humour, and even fashion. The glamour photos were just a small bit of titillation to an otherwise quality periodical. I am certain the reason for the relatively low percentage of 'smut' was probably something to do with circumventing the obscenity laws, but I felt the product was all the better for it. Over the years the artistic shots got gradually cruder and the editorial lessened in value. By the 1990s the magazine was a shadow of it's former self as more pages got turned over to shameless crutch shots.
This issue is from the magazine's heyday back in 1967.

Some of the main articles include:

An interview with Kingsley Amis on Anti-Americanism.

The conclusion of a serial Capone in Close-Up by Kenneth Allsop.

The John Hynam short story:
'Voyeur - By the light of the first moon he could see a humanoid, a man. A moment later he could distinguish another figure---and female she certainly was. They were both nude. She ran to the man., who caught her and swung her round and deposited her on the sand.....'

A page of limericks in 'Ribald Rimes' was particularly good.

A flower child from San Francisco
Stayed behind when the time came to go.
She complained: "I'm so hip,
Why can't I make that trip?"
She should have tried acid, not snow.

A definitive picture of the hippie movement from a writer who has observed it (and participated in it) in the U.S. and in Britain - Michael Thomas, titled 'Lord Buckley is Dead'.

A condensation of Daniel P. Mannix's best-seller Those about to die titled 'The Cruellest Show on Earth'.… (plus d'informations)