We wrote about the skin tanning history on our previous articles. However, admitted, it is not that well organized. As of this writing, this what our research shows, and we will continue to dive deeper on skin tanning’s history on the next articles.
Below is our table that compiles history associated with skin tanning and skin health. This table will be expanded towards the next article.
| Year | |
| undated | Greek and Roman omen whitened their skin with lead paint and chalk |
| Early 19th century | – Bronzed skin was for farm labourers who worked under the elements. -Upper class ladies shaded beneath parasols and hats. |
| 1903 | – Niels Finsen was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for “Finsen Light Therapy”; a cure for diseases such as lupus vulgaris and rickets |
| 1920’s | – Josephine Baker, a “caramel-skinned” singer in Paris, and idolized her dark skin |
| Mid 1920’s | – Suntan signaled wealth and privilege.- Pallid workers now toiling in dingy factories and mines |
| 1923 | Coco Chanel skipped off a yacht on the Côte d’’Azur, sporting bronzed skin. Tan was suddenly ‘the ‘in’ thing’. |
| 1928 | – Fashion designer Jean Patou introduced Huile de Chaldée, the first tanning oil |
| 1929 | – Sunless tanning products were an all-over makeup, like Glory of the Sun that promised to give the consumer a perfect tan “out of the box” |
| 1930’s | – Tanning entered the mainstream- Tanning products came on the market. Simple brown dye products- Sunlight therapy became a popularly subscribed cure for almost every ailment from simple fatigue to tuberculosis |
| 1940’s | – Advertisements started appearing in women’s magazines which encouraged sunbathing |
| 1935 | – First UV-filtering tanning oil, L’Oréal’s Ambre Solaire |
| 1940’s | – Coppertone sunblock was invented in the 1940s |
| 1946 | – all-over tan was made easier after the bikini was introduced |
| 1950’s | – Medical researcher named Eva Wittgenstein discovered that dihydroxyacetone (DHA), could safely brown the outer layers of the epidermis- Silver metallic reflectors were common to enhance one’s tan |
| 1956 | – product truly took off with the popularity of the bun-baring Coppertone Girl ad campaign |
| 1962 | – Deep cinnamon hue popularized when Ursula Andress sported a tan-enhancing white bikini in James Bond Dr. No- Sunscreen commenced to be SPF rated |
| 1969 | – Tan-through swimwear; uses fabric perforated with thousands of micro holes that are nearly invisible to the naked eye, but which transmit enough sunlight to approach an all-over tan, especially if the fabric is stretched taut. |
| 1971 | – Barbie(doll) had “Malibu” makeover; bleach-blond hair and darker skin tone, introducing younger girls to tanning |
| 1978 | – first modern indoor tanning bed was introduced in the U.S- Paler skin is no longer a mark of privilege |
| 1980’s | – Boom of tanning salon and spas- Bergasol launched a series of ads for their sun oil- Sunless tanning market worth millions of pounds in Britain, and well over a billion on an international scale. |
| 2003 | – Jimmy Coco created the world’s first mobile spray tanning kit |
| 2007 | – Estimated 50,000 outlets for indoor tanning; a five-billion-dollar industry in the United States |
