The Playboy sample was printed and placed on Hardy's desk. The cover was a sexy photo of Hedy Lamarr, but the woman's face was dignified and elegant.

Just this cover is enough to draw people's attention to this magazine.

The opening sentence is just one sentence.

"We should enjoy this kind of life: in our own apartment, mix a few cocktails, prepare one or two appetizers, put some ambient music on the phonograph, invite a pink lady, and quietly talk about Picasso, Nietzsche, jazz, and love."

The entire magazine has 48 pages in total, including 16 pages of copperplate-printed sexy photos of beautiful women. Apart from the photos, the articles inside do not contain any low-level erotic content.

An interview with Hedy Lamarr, covering her experiences over the years, starting from her birth, marriage, Hollywood, filming, her understanding of art, etc.

She was born into a Jewish family in Vienna, Austro-Hungarian Empire. Her father was a banker and her mother was a pianist. She was smart and beautiful since childhood and came from a well-off family. At the age of 16, she became fascinated with acting. Despite her parents' opposition, she gave up her communications major and went to Berlin, Germany to study performing arts.

The first movie she shot was called "Deadpool", which made her the first actress in the world to appear nude. Later, she married an arms dealer, and her husband controlled her physically. In 1937, while attending a dinner party, Hedy left the party halfway due to physical discomfort, drugged her attendant maid in the prison room, jumped out of the bathroom window, and took the train to Paris, France overnight. She then went to London, England, where she met MGM boss Louis B. Mayer and entered Hollywood on Mayer's recommendation.

......

Heidi's story is legendary, and she is a Hollywood star, so her story is enough to arouse the interest of many people.

Other articles,

Yes, there are critical articles, discussions on art, philosophy, music, as well as content about love and sex, but there is absolutely no vulgarity at all.

Hardy was very pleased with this first issue of Playboy.

"What's the cost?" Hardy asked.

"It's very expensive. The printing price of our magazine was about 10 to 15 cents, which is basically the normal printing price of all magazines. Now this Playboy has reached $1.4, which is almost 10 times the normal printing price of a magazine."

"I asked the printing company and they said if I print 20,000 copies, the price can be reduced to $1.25, and if I print 50,000 copies, the price can be reduced to $1.10."

Hardy thought that this was already much lower than the price he had in mind; he had originally thought it would be $2 per copy.

"Boss, how many copies do you think we should print for the first issue? Three thousand or five thousand? And how much should we sell it for? Our printing cost is too high. If we sell it for $3 per copy, I'm afraid no one will be willing to buy it." Hefner asked worriedly.

The higher the printing cost, the higher the selling price, and he was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to sell it.

The normal salary of Americans these days is about $200, a bottle of beer is 10 cents, a hot dog is 10 cents, a movie ticket is 20 to 30 cents, and an ordinary magazine such as Time or Reader's Digest is about 30 to 40 cents.

If Playboy were to be sold for $3, which is 10 times the price of other magazines, I guess not many people would be able to afford it.

Hardy smiled and waved his hands.

"Three thousand or five thousand is not enough. Just print 50,000 copies. Don't worry, there are more rich people in this world than you think."

"Also, I want people to have the idea that Playboy pursues quality and nobility, and is a book worth collecting, rather than a newspaper or magazine that you throw away after reading."

"As for the price, it is set at 3 dollars. There is actually no point in lowering the price. Those who can afford it will naturally buy it. Those who cannot afford it will find it expensive even if the price is reduced to the cost price, so we just make it higher."

"Also, print the mailing address on the back cover of the magazine. In the future, the magazine company will set up a special department to be responsible for mailing business. Maybe the number of mailings will be more than that sold at newsstands."

Hefner did not object to Hardy's decision.

The boss owns absolute shares of the magazine, and his decision is an order. I just hope that the boss's judgment is correct and that so many people are willing to spend $3 to buy a magazine.

The two then discussed the distribution issue.

There are booksellers everywhere, and the magazines can be sold all over the United States, so there is no need to worry about that. The two of them are studying wholesale prices.

Finally, Hardy set the wholesale price at $2.2, which meant that the magazine could earn $1.2 for each copy sold, and the remaining profit would be shared by the booksellers, distributors and newspaper stall owners.

December 2nd.

The first issue of Playboy was officially released for sale, and the magazine, printed with sexy photos of Hedy Lamarr, was placed at the front of bookstores and book stalls in major cities across the United States.

The two young people were standing in front of the newsstand and saw Heidi's sexy photo at first glance, "Wow~ This woman is so beautiful."

A guy next to her laughed and said, "Not only is it beautiful, it looks sexier when worn. I like it. It would be nice if I put it at the head of the bed."

"Boss, how much is this picture of a beautiful woman?"

The middle-aged boss smiled and said, "This is not a beauty porn, it's a magazine. There are more than just the cover photo. I just flipped through it and it made me so excited that I wanted to go back to my wife."

"Oh~ so amazing, let's take a look." Now the two of them became even more interested.

The boss took the book down but did not give it to them. Instead, he held it in his hand and flipped through it gently. The two young men were completely attracted by the beauty inside.

Some are charming and innocent.

Some are sexy and provocative.

Both of them couldn't help swallowing their saliva.

Just when they were excited, the boss suddenly closed the book. The two young men were stunned and asked, "Boss, why don't you turn the page?"

"I'm selling this. If you've seen them all, who am I going to sell them to?" the boss said with a pout.

In their hearts, they both cursed the boss for being stingy. One of them asked, "How much is it? I'll buy it."

“Three dollars.”

The two young men were stunned.

"What, how much?"

"Three dollars a copy," the boss said again.

"Three dollars, are you a robber? I'm selling a magazine for three dollars." a young man shouted excitedly.

The bookstall owner shrugged, "This is not the price I set, this is the price set by the bookseller, you can take a look."

As he said this, he turned the magazine over and saw the price on the back cover.

3 USD.

"This is too much! Normally a magazine costs only 30 cents, but this one costs $3, which is 10 times the price of a normal magazine."

"I think the magazine owner has gone crazy."

The book stall owner also expressed his frustration, "I also think it's very expensive. When I received the magazine yesterday, I was also shocked. I have been selling newspapers and magazines for more than ten years, and this is the most expensive magazine I have ever seen."

"But I have to say, this is also the most well-made magazine I have ever seen. Look at the printing paper, it's all copperplate paper, which is several times more expensive than ordinary printing paper."

"Look at these pictures of beauties. They are as exquisite as the photos, and there are so many of them. You can imagine how expensive the printing cost is. There is a reason for the high cost."

"Look at this sentence printed on the back of the magazine: 'This is a magazine worth collecting. Put it away after reading it. In the years to come, it will become your treasure.'"

The two young men left the newspaper stand, but not long after they walked out, they both stopped at the same time.

"Baiden, I think we should buy it."

"Yes Trump, I am tempted and want to buy it too."

"How about we pool our money and buy one?"

"Okay, you're one, three, five, I'll be two, four, six."

"What about Sunday?"

“Available for rent on Sundays.”

Lao Deng thought for a moment and said, "We must agree that it cannot be dirty."

"That's exactly what I was saying."

The two young men quickly returned to the newspaper stand, scraped together $3 to buy a copy of Playboy, stuffed it carefully into their clothes, and ran quickly to school.

......

new york.

A middle-aged man in a suit walked into the bookstore.

He often comes to this bookstore.

As soon as I walked in, I was attracted by the cover of a magazine on the magazine rack at the door.

Playboy, a men's magazine.

He also knew the woman on the cover, Hedy Lamarr, a Hollywood movie star who was once hailed by newspapers as one of the most beautiful women of this century.

Men have seen Hedy Lamarr movies.

He even has a collection of Hedy Lamarr's photo albums.

Now he saw Hedy Lamarr's magazine again, and the photo of the magazine was so attractive that the man walked to the magazine shelf and took the magazine down.

I thought there was just a photo on the cover, but when I opened it, I found that the photos inside were even more beautiful. There were more than a dozen sexy photos of Hedy Lamarr, and several other beauties, young and beautiful with charming curves.

The man walked up to the boss with the magazine.

"I want this magazine."

The boss smiled and said, "Three dollars."

The man was startled, picked up the magazine and turned it over to see the price tag, which was indeed three dollars.

He thought to himself, "It's so expensive."

It’s almost the same price as a book.

But he didn't hesitate and still paid for it.

......

Newsstands in bookstores in major cities across the United States.

Countless people were immediately attracted to Playboy when they saw it, but when they asked about the price, they were shocked by its high price.

But sometimes,

Really don't doubt people's spending power.

According to statistics,

After World War II, the number of millionaires in the United States was about 50,000, and there were about one million middle-class families with an annual income of over ten thousand dollars.

What is the value of an item?

There are no fixed rules at all.

When people think an item is worth owning, they will agree even if the price is high.

Someone bought Playboy, and friends and classmates saw it. More people got to know the magazine and bought it. A few days later, when people went to buy it again, they found that it had been sold out.

Feedback on sales conditions in various regions.

Hefner was so shocked that he was speechless when he saw the sales data. The sales of the magazine he had previously published were only a few thousand copies at their peak, and later they only maintained at a few hundred copies per issue.

Now there are 50,000 copies, and the price is so high. He really didn't expect it to sell so quickly. He had even prepared for the possibility of slow sales.

"Oh my god, 50,000 copies have been sold out in just three days."

Hefner called Hardy to share the good news, and he looked very excited:

"Mr. Hardy, Playboy is a success. 50,000 copies have been sold out, and many booksellers have asked for more copies."

"Can you tell me about the sales situation in different regions?"

"Sales were highest in New York, at 7,000 copies. Los Angeles also sold 5,000 copies. Chicago, Houston, and Philadelphia each sold 2,000 copies. Other cities sold 1,000 copies. Booksellers have reported that almost all of the copies have been sold out," Hefner reported.

New York is the largest city in the United States, with a population of over 3 million, but it only sold 7,000 copies. Los Angeles now also has a population of one million, but it only sold 5,000 copies.

Hardy knew.

The current sales volume of Reader's Digest is 9 million copies per issue, and its peak sales volume in the later period was 30 million copies. The sales volume of Playboy could reach 7 million copies at its peak.

So there are quite a few buyers, the key is whether people like it.

"Print more, print another 50,000 copies," said Hardy.