The censors had an immediate reaction and contacted Penthouse to inform them that this was not acceptable.
With the public announcement that the photos would be published, Williams was forced to relinquish her crown near the end of her reign as Miss America.
He ignored the emerging technology of the internet, and in 2003 the company Longevity and Viva that had boasted such titles as Penthouse, Forum, Variation and the non-adult Omni, declared bankruptcy.
People who had heard of the more racy British version of Playboy were chomping at the bit to get their hands on the magazine.
As Penthouse continued to grow its American readership, it pushed deeper and deeper in to controversial territory.
Jerry Falwell, and televangelists like Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart.