Close. Actually it was more a case of Comstock-era blue laws requiring serious artistic or literary merit, or at least a semblance thereof, before the magazine

Close. Actually it was more a case of Comstock-era blue laws requiring serious artistic or literary merit, or at least a semblance thereof, before the magazine could legally be mailed. When the legal climate improved, the need for all of that expensive content went away, at least in Playboy's mind. Which is unfortunate... if someone published a magazine like that today, I'd subscribe to it.