Richard Sax and Joseph Dubin were two Chicago men with a dream, very little money, but a dream. The two men wanted to start a printing company but could not afford the high costs of opening a shop in Chicago.

So they headed west from the big city looking for two things: affordable property and ready access to transportation. After a short search, the ideal location was found; Rochelle, Illinois.

Rochelle offered an affordable location on the corner of Lincoln Avenue and Sixth Street. The Sherlock Garage was a two-story structure erected in 1920. With 6,000 square feet of open space on two floors, the building offered sufficient room for the presses and office space. Rochelle’s two rail lines, Lincoln Highway and Meridian Road, assured easy access to national transportation. So it was. In 1946, Richard and Joseph opened Rochelle Printing Company in downtown Rochelle.

Rochelle Printing Company was the definition of small business. The company featured three presses and six employees. With six monthly magazines the company was surviving but always on the lookout for new clients.

Rochelle Printing Company grew over the next three years and by 1949 the company needed more room. A new building was erected on South Seventh Street and would become home base for Rochelle Printing as long as they stayed in business. But Richard Sax and Joseph Dubin were not the only Chicago men with a dream.

Hugh Hefner sat in his Chicago apartment; his dream was to create a magazine for men featuring beautiful women and articles by some of the best and most controversial writers of the time. Hugh was 27 years old and had just acquired what he hoped would be the key to his success.

He had heard of a local calendar maker who owned the rights to a nude photo of a little-known actress, Marilyn Monroe. The picture had been taken in 1949 and Marilyn’s career had not yet taken off.

The 1950s marked an explosion in Marilyn’s fame. Movies like “The Asphalt Jungle” and “All About Eve” in 1950, “Niagara”, “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” and “How to Marry a Millionaire” in 1953 catapulted Marilyn Monroe to stardom. When asked about the nude photo, Marilyn said simply, “I had nothing on but the radio.”

Hugh Hefner had paid $500 for the rights to publish the photo. The only thing he lacked was enough money to hire a printing firm and a firm willing to print the magazine. Hugh searched around and learned of a small company west of Chicago that was expanding and looking for new clients. The company was owned by kindred souls – two men from Chicago with little money and big dreams.

Hugh visited Rochelle and contracted Rochelle Printing to print the first five issues of “Playboy Magazine.” The first issue featured Marilyn Monroe and the 50,000 copies flew off of the magazine racks. Each succeeding issue required more copies than the one before and by the fifth issue, “Playboy” had outgrown Rochelle Printing’s capabilities.

“Playboy” and Hugh moved on but Rochelle Printing Company had been in on the inception of one of the legendary magazines of all time. The “Playboy Bunny” is an instantly recognized symbol even today.

Rochelle Printing saw eight expansions from 1949 through 2012. They grew from 12,000 square feet of production space to 66,000 square feet. The original three printing presses grew to 23 presses and the six employees became a workforce of 140. Rochelle Printing started small, printing six monthly magazines and at its peak, produced 36 monthlies and six weeklies. None it seems, quite as well-known as “Playboy Magazine”.

Rochelle Printing Company closed its doors in 2012 after 66 years of serving the area’s printing needs. Many would remember their time at Rochelle Printing: Roger Unger who devoted over 50 years in the binding room; Harvey Galloway, foreman of the mail room; Jack Brittenham, foreman of the Composing Room; L.R. (Tex) Dickenson, plant manager; Anne Hooley in the office and Clarence McTaggart at the linotype machine – just to name a few. Some have moved on, others have passed on, but all were a part of the company’s success.

The Rochelle Printing Company building has been removed but the press that printed the first five “Playboy Magazines” has survived and is on display at the Rochelle Flagg Township Museum. The museum is located at 518 Fourth Ave. in Rochelle.

• Tom McDermott is a Flagg Township Museum historian and Rochelle city councilman.