It’s a big day at Playboy Enterprises today as they celebrate a whopping 56 years in print with Hugh Hefner’s iconic men’s magazine, Playboy.

But it didn’t start off as a hugely subscribed to enterprise as the 27 year old Hefner, using  borrowed money and a heart full of hope,  launched his debut Playboy Magazine, with “Sweetheart of the Month” Marilyn Monroe gracing the cover in December of 1953.

Although Marilyn did not exactly pose nude for Hefner himself for this issue, Hef actually bought the rights of the nude photos from a local calendar store in Chicago and put the 44 pages of the first issue of Playboy Magazine together in his own home, indeed, on his own kitchen table. The issue, which sold for mere cents back in 1953 can fetch as much as $6,000 today. And with that in mid, back in 2007 Hef reprinted his famous first issue, which can now be purchased at various men’s magazine web sites for as little as $100.00, making it a perfect Christmas gift.

Because of his uncertainty of Playboy’s success, Hugh Hefner did not put his name nor an issue date on the first 50,000 issues of Playboy Magazine. However, sales went through the roof largely due to the fact that the marvelous Marilyn Monroe was a sex-symbol siren already coveted by a multitude of American men.

While men everywhere felt liberated and thrilled about the new Playboy Magazine, many were outraged and disgusted by Playboy Magazine’s emergence. But, Hugh Hefner made his intentions quite clear in his very first issue by stating, “If you’re a man between the ages of 18 and 80, Playboy is meant for you. If you like your entertainment served up with humor, sophistication and spice, Playboy will become a very special favorite. We want to make it clear from the very start, we aren’t a family magazine. If you’re somebody’s sister, wife or mother-in-law and picked us up by mistake, please pass us along to the man in your life and get back to your Ladies Home Companion.”

Although women weren’t flocking to pose naked for Playboy Magazine as they do today, many well-known ladies were intrigued by the popularity and success of Playboy and wanted to be a part of that. Many famous women of TV and film that appeared in Playboy Magazine include Marilyn Monroe, Raquel Welch, Farrah Fawcett, Drew Barrymore and Brigitte Bardot.

Some refer to him as an International Playboy, yet Hugh Hefner is more appropriately described as a pure genius and an American icon. What began as a good idea evolved into a powerful empire that continues to expand and prosper exponentially.

Hef has discovered, and slept with, and married and dated the world’s most desirable women. He has interviewed history’s biggest legends, politicians and famous pop artists. Many magazines have tried to emulate but have never been able to duplicate Playboy Magazine’s unique blend of sexuality, art, politics, culture, fashion, and finesse. But, the Playboy Empire was not always so glamorous and posh as we see it today. Every great story has a beginning, a climax and an end. The story of Playboy Enterprise’s success is intriguing and will motivate any entrepreneur to pursue their wildest dreams.

The Like a Virgin singer may have cut the mustard with her wide eyed, blonde curled, sexy vixen look back in the 1980’s, but her lifestyle and reputation hasn’t stood the test of time when it comes to being one of Hugh Hefner’s Playboy models moving into the 2000’s.

Unlike celebrities who still command a firm following among Playboy magazine collectors, like Drew Barrymore, Pamela Anderson and even the now deceased Anna Nicole Smith, Madonna has not held her own in the world of models and sex icons when it comes to Hef’s models!

The Material Girl, who posed for Playboy magazine back in September 1985, at the height of her career, and was the last model to have a staple placed firmly in her naval, hasn’t had an encore performance with the famous men’s magazine and looks less like being recalled for a photos shoot as time passes by and her involvement with disreputable sportsmen and toy boys hit’s the worldwide tabloids.

The self confessed Queen of Pop is now seeing her former flaming sexual attributes dying with a good dousing of broken marriages, adulterous relationships and world tours more resembling an antiques road show than a sexy, pert, desirable young woman!

From the little girl who gave a petrifying scream at the site of the extra terrestrial in Steven Spielberg’s 1982 movie, E.T. to the drug abusing teenager, Drew Barrymore has kept herself in the public eye for more than three decades, for better or for worse.

But since her appearance on the cover of Hugh Hefner’s Playboy magazine in January 1995, Drew has become more of a sex symbol and somewhat of a fashion icon rather than a troubled celebrity. Along with her Playboy bunny girl pictorial, Barrymore was chosen by People magazine in 1997 as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World.

Today, Drew attracts attention for less provocative reasons and more for being a respected member of the Hollywood elite.

At the 2008 Golden Globe Awards last week, Barrymore, was the talk of the town with her new ‘big hair’ style which certainly gave her the appearance of a stunning beauty with grace, poise and confidence.

This new look is possibly associated with 33 year old Drew’s recognition that after two broken marriages, first in 1994 to bartender Jeremy Thomas and then to comedian Tom Green, the single life is the best way for her to live her life and to concentrate on her career and her appearance.

Drew is about to hit box offices in February along side Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston and Scarlett Johansson in her latest movie He’s Just Not That into You, which is based on the best selling book featured in Sex and the City, by Greg Behrendt.