Hugh Hefner : How Playboy grew out of his puritanical childhood
Hugh Hefner
The Washington Post's Margaret Sullivan discusses the legacy of  Playboy founder Hugh Hefner . (Thomas Johnson/The Washington Post)
Hugh Hefner  who died Wednesday at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles after spending most of  his  life there in a silk robe  grew up in the 1920s on a quiet Chicago street lit with gas lamps. Horse-drawn wagons delivered milk and ice. Trains whistled in the distance.
“One of the loveliest sounds in the world ”  Hefner  said decades later.
It was there  during the Great Depression  that  Hefner ’s extraordinary life took shape — not so much because of what happened there  but what didn’t: Affection. Emotion. Love. And certainly not sex  although his parents did manage to have two children.
The rules of the home were strict — no swearing  no drinking  no playing cards  no radio on Sundays — and reflected the Puritan upbringing of  Hefner ’s parents  who grew up on Nebraska farms. His father  Glenn  was an accountant at an aluminum company. His mother  Grace  was a school teacher.
Grace was sexually demure to a degree notable even for that time  Gay Talese wrote in “Thy Neighbor’s Wife ” his bestselling book about sex in America  which chronicled  Hefner ’s rise. As for Glenn  he was “a remote  repressed man who seldom revealed his feelings to his family and spent most of his time working quietly… six days a week  sometimes seven.”
 Hefner  was “unattractive and shy ” Talese wrote  and he often slipped away from the present even though he was right there:
If the boys became restless indoors  they were permitted to sit at the workbench in the backyard where they could draw pictures or sculpt with the colored clay that  she  provided.  Hugh Hefner   who was facile in drawing and sculpturing  was more than diverted by these activities—he often seemed entranced by the clay figures of his creation  relating to  them  with a special intimacy  and if at such times his mother called to him from the back door  he would not hear her.
Though  Hefner  was bright he did not excel in school  often sitting at his desk and drawing cartoons for hours.  Hefner  seemed so totally disengaged that teachers wondered if he could hear them. Not knowing what to do  Grace had him examined by child psychologists at the Illinois Institute for Juvenile Research.
[Donald Trump was proud of his 1990 Playboy cover.  Hugh Hefner   not so much.]
 Hugh Hefner   publisher and owner of Playboy Magazine  and  his  girlfriend Barbara Benton  a 19-year-old coed-turned-actress  are surrounded by Bunnies at the Playboy Club in London on Sept. 5  1969. (Associated Press)
Following a series of tests they concluded that his problems were rather special.  Hugh Hefner  was a genius.  His  I.Q. was 152. But  the doctors added   he  was emotionally deficient  was socially immature for  his  age  and they suggested that it might help if  Mrs. Hefner  displayed more warmth around the house  more love and sympathetic understanding.
The pinups were the highly stylized drawings by Alberto Vargas and George Petty that appeared in Esquire  which in the 1940s was published in Chicago and was the most risqué men’s magazine in America. Hugh Hefner had first seen Esquire while visiting the home of an elementary school classmate whose father  a commercial artist  subscribed to the magazine. Everything in Esquire excited young Hefner—the romantic and adventurous stories by such writers as Fitzgerald and Hemingway  the photographs of classic cars  the sophisticated cartoons  the travel articles about glamorous places  the fashion layouts  and the foldout that each month offered an exquisite color drawing of a beautiful woman. Hefner was able to decorate his room with such voluptuaries  with his mother’s acquiescence if not approval  because his schoolwork had suddenly improved and he also now seemed determined to pursue certain vaguely artistic goals that his mother was reluctant to discourage.
In the coming years   Hef  entered the Army  then college  still drawing  with  his  pictures becoming more pornographic.  He  took a series of low-level magazine jobs and then  in 1953  published the first issue of Playboy.
Talese writes: “ He  virtually lived within the glossy pages  slept in a small bedroom behind  his  office  and worked all hours of the day and night on Playboy’s color and design  the cartoons and captions  the fact and fiction.”
In 1992  to help promote a documentary about his life   Hefner  returned to 1922 N. New England Ave. with his brother and some friends to look around. Roger Ebert tagged along.
The Washington Post's Margaret Sullivan discusses the legacy of [TGT] . (Thomas Johnson/The Washington Post)
[TGT]who died Wednesday at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles after spending most of  his  life there in a silk robe  grew up in the 1920s on a quiet Chicago street lit with gas lamps. Horse-drawn wagons delivered milk and ice. Trains whistled in the distance.
“One of the loveliest sounds in the world ”  [TGT]said decades later.
It was there  during the Great Depression  that  Hefner ’s extraordinary life took shape — not so much because of what happened there  but what didn’t: Affection. Emotion. Love. And certainly not sex  although his parents did manage to have two children.
The rules of the home were strict — no swearing  no drinking  no playing cards  no radio on Sundays — and reflected the Puritan upbringing of  [TGT] parents  who grew up on Nebraska farms. His father  Glenn  was an accountant at an aluminum company. His mother  Grace  was a school teacher.
Grace was sexually demure to a degree notable even for that time  Gay Talese wrote in “Thy Neighbor’s Wife ” his bestselling book about sex in America  which chronicled  [TGT] rise. As for Glenn  he was “a remote  repressed man who seldom revealed his feelings to his family and spent most of his time working quietly… six days a week  sometimes seven.”
 [TGT]was “unattractive and shy ” Talese wrote  and he often slipped away from the present even though he was right there:
If the boys became restless indoors  they were permitted to sit at the workbench in the backyard where they could draw pictures or sculpt with the colored clay that  [TGT]  provided.  [TGT]   who was facile in drawing and sculpturing  was more than diverted by these activities—he often seemed entranced by the clay figures of [TGT] creation  relating to  them  with a special intimacy  and if at such times [TGT] mother called to [TGT] from the back door  [TGT] would not hear her.
Though  [TGT]was bright [TGT] did not excel in school  often sitting at [TGT] desk and drawing cartoons for hours.  [TGT]seemed so totally disengaged that teachers wondered if [TGT] could hear them. Not knowing what to do  [TGT] had [TGT] examined by child psychologists at the Illinois Institute for Juvenile Research.
[Donald Trump was proud of his 1990 Playboy cover.  [TGT]   not so much.]
 [TGT]   publisher and owner of Playboy Magazine  and  [TGT]  girlfriend Barbara Benton  a 19-year-old coed-turned-actress  are surrounded by Bunnies at the Playboy Club in London on Sept. 5  1969. (Associated Press)
Following a series of tests [TGT] concluded that [TGT] problems were rather special.  [TGT]was a genius.  [TGT]  I.Q. was 152. But  the doctors added   [TGT]  was emotionally deficient  was socially immature for  [TGT]  age  and they suggested that it might help if  [TGT]displayed more warmth around the house  more love and sympathetic understanding.
The pinups were the highly stylized drawings by Alberto Vargas and George Petty that appeared in Esquire  which in the 1940s was published in Chicago and was the most risqué men’s magazine in America. [TGT] had first seen Esquire while visiting the home of an elementary school classmate whose father  a commercial artist  subscribed to the magazine. Everything in Esquire excited young Hefner—the romantic and adventurous stories by such writers as Fitzgerald and Hemingway  the photographs of classic cars  the sophisticated cartoons  the travel articles about glamorous places  the fashion layouts  and the foldout that each month offered an exquisite color drawing of a beautiful woman. [TGT] was able to decorate his room with such voluptuaries  with his mother’s acquiescence if not approval  because his schoolwork had suddenly improved and he also now seemed determined to pursue certain vaguely artistic goals that his mother was reluctant to discourage.
In the coming years   Hef  entered the Army  then college  still drawing  with  his  pictures becoming more pornographic.  He  took a series of low-level magazine jobs and then  in 1953  published the first issue of Playboy.
Talese writes: “ He  virtually lived within the glossy pages  slept in a small bedroom behind  his  office  and worked all hours of the day and night on Playboy’s color and design  the cartoons and captions  the fact and fiction.”
In 1992  to help promote a documentary about his life   Hefner  returned to 1922 N. New England Ave. with his brother and some friends to look around. Roger Ebert tagged along.