What are the stars on the cover of some issues?
Urban legend has it that the stars represent either the number of times Hef had slept with the Playmate of the Month or his rating of how good she was in bed. The actual explanation is less titillating. Except for a six-month period in 1976, the stars appeared on our covers from 1955 until 1979. The star system changed over the years, but it ranged from zero to 12 at its peak. The number of stars indicated the domestic or international advertising region for that edition of the magazine. The regions included a military edition, Canada, the United Kingdom, Chicago, Los Angeles metro, New York metro, eastern United States, southwestern United States, etc.
