In 1958, Denmark began making a name for itself as a producer of nudist and art-photography digests, most of the photos were just recycled from French and English photographers; Serge Jacques, Russell Gay and Harrison Marks images can all be found in these magazines. The Danish turned them out in great numbers, however, printing text in English, German and French and selling each country's photos back to them with the appearance of a homegrown product.

Then in the early 60s, an aristocratic Italian law student took the cause of sexual freedom as his life's work. He adopted the Scandinavian name Lasse Braun, and using his wealth and his position as a member of the Austrian Diplomatic Corps, he set about making and distributing real pornography. In his autobiography, he says he felt chosen by destiny for his role because he had all the right qualities to succeed.

Suddenly a much more explicit product was available in Denmark, albeit still under the counter, and the Theander brothers decided they wanted in on this new growth industry. Pooling their tips, they bought a used bookstore. In the windows were the tame nudist and figure-model magazines acting as lures; under the counter was the good stuff, it was an immediate success. The brothers were soon unable to keep up with the demand and decided to make their own magazines in imitation of Braun. To finance this move, they stopped reordering stock, letting their inventory sell out and the money build up.

Later this would appear to be genius; in fact it was simply dumb luck, in 1967, when the Copenhagen police raided all known hardcore dealers in an attempt to stamp out the rising tide of pornography, they found the Theander's shop bare. In all of the country, Peter and Jens alone escaped prosecution. While the other dealers fought their court battles, the Theanders built their secret empire.

They state 1967 as the beginning of the Color Climax/Rodox company, their first Color Climax magazine appeared in 1968. When hardcore pornography was legalized in Denmark in 1969, the brothers were perfectly positioned to dominate the market.

While Berth Milton was actually the first to make Scandinavian hardcore with his Private magazine, the Theanders were the first to make hardcore films, and their First, Biggest, Most Pornographic motto probably derives from that. Once they went into full-scale production of loops 10-minute 8mm movies - their Color Climax, Rodox, Sex Bizarre, Blue Climax and Color Sperma magazines, among many titles, became mere by-products.

The still photographs for the magazines were shot at the same time as the films, so a double profit could be made, and the magazines served as the films' catalogs. The Theanders, notoriously difficult and shrewd businessmen, hooked up with American porn-lord Reuben Sturman early on, supplying much of the product for his newly invented adult-bookstore peep-show booths. By the mid-70s, they had an industrial complex in Copenhagen churning out hardcore that supplied the entire world.

When film was supplanted by video, they made the transition smoothly. In 2001, Color Climax had grown so successful that Peter Theander (Jens had dropped out years before) declared print pornography dead and ceased production of all his Color Climax and Rodox magazines. All remaining stock was sold to an American antique erotica dealer, who sold it off, piece by piece, on eBay.