These Rare Photos Show a Young Hugh Hefner Building His 'Playboy' Empire

A new six-volume book set features lots of photos and moments from Hefner legendary career.

Not Available Lead
Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

Not Available Lead

Everyone knows Hugh Hefner as the old man who always wears a smoking jacket and hangs with hot girls in bikinis, but the God of Playboy has been in the game for a minute. Long before he was an 89-year-old man known for his relationships with multiple young women at a time, Hefner was just a bachelor starting a magazine for other men like him. A new six-volume anthology from Taschen titled Hugh Hefner's Playboy chronicles the early years of the men's publication and features some throwback photos of a younger Hefner being a boss like only he knows how.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

The book also features famous interviews from the pages of Playboy with icons like Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lennon, as well as other important pieces and information about Hefner's storied career. Head to the Taschen website for more info on how to cop the set.

Latest in Style