You can't talk about the industrialization of porn without bringing up the Jewish Reuben Sturman. Sturman spearheaded the push to get pornographic imagery into the hands of the American people, using legal loopholes, coercion and force.

Born in Ohio to immigrant Russian jews, Sturman began selling comic books out of his car and eventually built a national distribution network for comics and magazines.

He used this infrastructure to start peddling softcore porn in the early 1960's after realizing it was far more profitable than comics. At the time, federal laws against obscenity being sent through the mail were being enforced (Comstock act) Sturman got around them using shell companies, PO Boxes, and his mob ties.

By 1975, Sturman controlled 90% of all U.S. adult magazine distribution. At this point he was now distributing and producing explicit content. Penetration, group sex, fetish. He later began distributing hardcore VHS tapes as well.

Sturman used a blitzkrieg-like strategy to obliterate cultural resistance. Before him, porn was available. After him, it was inescapable. He leveraged his control over mainstream magazine distribution (comics, tabloids, etc.) to coerce everyday stores into carrying adult material. He forced porn onto shelves through bundling, pressure, and intimidation.

Porn did not spread because of cultural demand.

Sturman manufactured that demand by making sure porn was on every shelf, in every town, whether the town wanted it or not.

The feds eventually caught up with Sturman and indicted him in 1989 for failing to pay taxes on millions in income from his porn businesses. This eventually widened to a RICO investigation, and during one of his trials, he was caught trying to bribe a juror. Sturman was ultimately found guilty of tax evasion, racketeering, obstruction of justice, and jury tampering. He was sentenced to 29 years in federal prison. In 1997, he died 5 years into his sentence.