Vintage Suntan Lotion – The Evolution of Sun Worshipping

Back before we knew about the damage sun exposure can do to your skin and your health, suntan lotion was a way of life during the summer. You buttered yourself up and baked in the sun, moving and removing straps so you wouldn’t have tan lines. Getting an even tan was an art. One isn’t nostalgic for the skin cancers or the premature aging all that tanning caused, but one misses the smell of vintage suntan lotion.

We aren’t advocated slathering up and roasting yourself, but we are more than willing to take you down to the shore, for some vintage suntan lotion history.

The concept of tanning had a long arc over the 20th century. Historically, pale skin was a symbol of status and refinement. No outdoor labors for you. At least until 1923, when Coco Chanel bronzed herself up during a vacation on the Riviera, starting the tanning craze. Tanning continued to rise in popularity from the 1930s-1950s, with more suntan lotions being concocted. Protection from burning? Ha, no thanks.

The 1960s-1980s were the goldenest of the golden tan years. Being bronze was glamorous. And you didn’t have to go to the beach to make it happen. There were sunlamps you could use at home. The late 70s was the beginning of the suntanning salons and beds revolution. You could be tan all year with zero tan lines. (Lest anyone thing me judgmental, for my 1982 wedding I was tan from top to bottom and thin as a stick insect thanks to the Tab and cigarette diet.)

The lotions and oils all promised to make us beautifully bronze. And if that didn’t happen quickly enough for you, you could accelerate the process with reflective silver blankets, silver-backed clear air mattresses and tri-fold reflective shields to concentrate the rays on your face.

1960s suntan lotion ads and bottle, including the beloved and immortal Coppertone baby and cocker spaniel.

The 1970s was the era of quick baked to a crackly crunch, with products galore to help you get well done.

There were also a few common non-suntan lotions that were exceedingly popular. Baby oil was the queen. Is that because when you wore it you smelled a little like Love’s Baby Soft cologne? If you wanted to hypercharge your baby oil, you added a few drops of iodine. It gave you a head start on that bronze you were after. Cocoa butter and olive oil were also used.

Not everyone wanted to amp up the tanning. Some of us don’t tan, we skip that step and go directly to red like a lobster and ouchie to touch. Lotions with PABA, a UVB ray absorber, were the earliest sunscreens, finding a market from the 1940s to the 1980s.

PABA fell from favor in the late 1980s because it was known to cause allergic skin reactions, stain light colored clothing and might possibly interact with your DNA in not good ways. PABA is not recognized as safe by the US FDA, and it is mostly banned in the EU.

Everything we worshipped about suntanning changed, starting in the 1990s, when UV exposure was linked to premature aging and skin cancer. It’s a case of the more you know, thankfully. Some of us who once drenched ourselves in suntan lotionk now religiously apply layers of 50+ sunscreen, wear hats and dread the prospect of a sunburn. We love vintage, but sometimes modern science-based thinking is an excellent choice.

Extra credit

Combined with sea, sand and sun, the scent of vintage suntan lotion was one of the finest scents on earth. If you have a chance, find a sample of Bobbi Brown’s Beach perfume–it captures that lotion smell plus more familiar beach day aromas from the 1970s.

Enjoy this vintage Coppertone QT TV commercial.

For some of you, this will revive an earworm from the 1980s with the jingle– vintage 1987 Bain de Soleil ad. Don’t watch it if you don’t want to spend the next few days singing it. You have been warned.

The actual famous Coppertone baby tells the story of her mom, commercial illustrator Joyce Ballantyne Brand, creating the image in 1959.

Flash’em the Coppertone tan 1980 commercial.