The Puritan influence in American culture lasted far longer than did the Puritans themselves. Over the years, the prudishness of the Puritans combined with the rigid moral code of fundamentalist Protestants and the sexually conservative teachings of the Catholic Church to produce a culture in which sex and sexuality were forbidden from virtually all forms of public entertainment and discourse. That culture endured, and dominated, for many years. Beginning in the 1950s, however, the cultural climate in America began to thaw. The heat came from two principal sources. One was Dr. Alfred Kinsey, who conducted the first scientific research on the sexual practices of Americans, and published the surprising results in a series of Kinsey Reports. The other source was Hugh Hefner and his magazine, Playboy.

Prior to starting Playboy in 1953, Hugh Marsten Hefner, 27, had not achieved much success in life. After college and the Army, he returned...