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''Penthouse'', a men's magazine founded by Bob Guccione, combines urban lifestyle articles and softcore pornographic pictorials that, in the 1990s, evolved into hardcore. ''Penthouse'' is owned by FriendFinder Network, formerly known as General Media, Inc. whose parent company was Penthouse International Inc. prior to chapter 11 restructuring. Although Guccione was American, the magazine was founded in 1965, in the United Kingdom, but beginning in September 1969, was sold in the United States as well. At the height of his success, Guccione, who died in 2010, was considered to be one of the richest men in the United States. He was once listed in the Forbes 400 ranking of wealthiest people (1982〔Munk, Nina. ("Don't Blink. You'll Miss the 258th-Richest American" ). ''The New York Times'', September 25, 2005.〕). An April 2002 ''New York Times'' article reported Guccione as saying that ''Penthouse'' grossed $3.5 billion to $4 billion over the 30-year life of the company, with net income of almost half a billion dollars.〔Carr, David. ("Cybersmut and Debt Undermine Penthouse" ). ''The New York Times'', April 8, 2002.〕 The Penthouse logo is a stylized key which incorporates both the Mars and Venus symbols in its design. The magazine's centerfold models are known as Penthouse Pets and customarily wear a distinctive necklace inspired by said logo. ==Publication history== ''Penthouse'' magazine began publication in 1965, in England and in North America in 1969, an attempt to compete with Hugh Hefner's ''Playboy''. Guccione offered editorial content that was more sensational than that of ''Playboy'', and the magazine's writing was far more investigative than Hefner's upscale emphasis, with stories about government cover-ups and scandals. Writers such as Craig S. Karpel, James Dale Davidson and Ernest Volkman, as well as the critically acclaimed Seymour Hersh, exposed numerous scandals and corruption at the highest levels of the United States Government. The magazine was founded on humble beginnings. Due to Guccione's lack of resources, he personally photographed most of the models for the magazine's early issues.〔Anthony Haden-Guest ("Boom and Bust" ), ''The Observer'', February 1, 2004〕 Without professional training, Guccione applied his knowledge of painting to his photography, establishing the diffused, soft focus look that would become one of the trademarks of the magazine's pictorials. Guccione would sometimes take several days to complete a shoot. As the magazine grew more successful, Guccione openly embraced a life of luxury; his former mansion is said to be the largest private residence in Manhattan at . However, in contrast to Hugh Hefner, who threw wild parties at his Playboy Mansions, life at Guccione's mansion was remarkably sedate, even during the hedonistic 1970s.〔 He reportedly once had his bodyguards eject a local radio personality who had been hired as a DJ and jumped into the swimming pool naked.〔("The Twilight of Bob Guccione" ) from ''Rolling Stone''〕 The magazine's pictorials offered more sexually explicit content than was commonly seen in most openly sold men's magazines of the era; it was the first to show female pubic hair, followed by full-frontal nudity and then the exposed vulva and anus.〔 ''Penthouse'' has also, over the years, featured a number of authorized and unauthorized photos of celebrities such as Madonna and Vanessa Lynn Williams. In both cases, the photos were taken earlier in their careers and sold to ''Penthouse'' only after Madonna and Williams became famous. In the late 1990s, the magazine began to show more "fetish" content such as urination, bondage and "facials."〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Penthouse (magazine)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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