Penthouse Covers Throughout Time: A Salute To Bob Guccione

Yesterday, the world lost one of the titans of topless magazines, Bob Guccione, founder of Penthouse. To honor the impact he's had on our lives, and in thinking about the legacy he's left behind, we're checking out old magazine covers.

When it started out, Penthouse was neither as classy as Playboy nor as crude as Hustler, but when Guccione brought his magazine to America in 1969, it made a big splash in the skin mag world. What made it stand apart? Pubic hair. And although Playboy had technically shown a few wisps of pubes here and there in the '60s, Penthouse is officially credited with starting the Pubic Wars, and Playboy began to up the ante downstairs in 1970.

But enough about Playboy; we're here to reflect on Penthouse! We're going decade by decade, so let's start with the first issue to ever hit America...

September 1969: Evelyn Treacher
Did you know that Bob Guccione himself shot all of the pictures in the earliest Penthouse issues? He didn't have the money or resources to hire anyone else, nor did he have any professional photography training. He applied his knowledge of painting to his work, and that's why early Penthouse pictures have that soft, hazy feel to them.

July 1979: Donna Summer
No, Ms. Summer didn't strip for Penthouse, but she sat down for a talk with Penthouse about some serious topics such as mortality, sexual fantasies, interracial stereotypes, and what it means to sell out.

Another notable babe from the 1970s: Joann Witty a.k.a. Priscilla Barnes. She was Penthouse Pet of July 1976, and five years later, she replaced Suzanne Somers on "Three's Company."

September 1984: Vanessa Williams
Shortly after being crowned Miss America 1984, Vanessa Williams showed up nude in Penthouse. The photos were published without Williams's consent, she was forced to give up her crown, she sued Guccione and dropped the case. Sounds like Williams has a rough time, but hey, she said it best when she stated, "the best revenge is success." Speaking of scandal, this is the issue that featured an underage Traci Lords as Penthouse Pet of the Month.

Other notable babes from the 1980s: Debbie Harry, Madonna (she appeared, like, a million times), Morgan Fairchild, Sheila Kennedy, Janine Lindemulder.

March 1993: Marky Mark?
Flipping through the Penthouse archives, we found an unusual number of dudes on the covers of this decade. Maybe the '90s were some sort of masculine renaissance? Did we miss that? Seriously. From June to November of 1992, the covers featured George Foreman, Jerry Brown, Jean-Claude van Damme, Howard Stern, Jackie Mason, and George Bush. This seems to stop around 1994, but it's still pretty strange.

Other notable babes from the 1990s: Anna Nicole Smith, Claudia Schiffer, Cindy Crawford, Madonna, Pamela Anderson, Leslie Nielsen, Marky Mark, Andrew Dice Clay, Mike Tyson, Jay Leno, and Richard Lewis

December 2006: Hanna Hilton
The 2000s were rich with our favorite pornstars; it was so hard to choose just one cover! Why did we go with Hanna Hilton? Because we're a sentimental bunch and we miss her so.

Other notable babes from the 2000s: Jenna Jameson, Kagney Linn Karter, Tori Black, Kayden Kross, Bree Olson, Alektra Blue, Justine Joli, Tila Tequila, and Dita Von Teese

January 2010: Taylor Vixen
We're at the beginning of a new decade, and things are already looking pretty boss. Taylor Vixen is Pet of the Year; no complaints there. We don't know where Penthouse is going in the future, so we'll avoid making guesses. All we can really say now is this: Thanks for everything, Bob Guccione!