The Coppertone Girl: A Sunday Sampler

[write_light]

Coppertone Suntan Oil, Lotion, and Cream, 1955

One of the earliest ads.  Note the charmingly racist "don't be a paleface" Indian logo and the even more unusual foward-facing girl.

Comments

[michaeldoty]

Thanks for posting! I never knew there was a Coppertone sign, much less the fact that it has been around for decades. It has been moved twice but it currently overlooks the Smiling Pets Animal Hospital (hee hee) at the corner of Biscayne Boulevard and 73rd Street in Miami.

That first ad was a revelation. I love prototype versions of familiar mascots before they changed into the versions we all know and love.

[write_light]

I know, it's like finding an early version of a manuscript (or early movie script of an iconic movie)!

[luke_russell]

There was a motorized Coppertone billboard on Hwy 101 at Berryessa Avenue in San Jose CA for years and years. The dog would pull down the girls swimsuit, up and down, up and down. Then California passed a safety law that prevented any moving signs to be seen from state highways.

[write_light]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/griffis/sets/72157605126004970/ Restoration of one sign (to be re-mounted in Miami)

Is this the animated one?

[write_light]

well, it's more a cutie patootie, but okay. :D

[franklanguage]

And what about "nekkid kid"?

[ejia_arath03]

No, doggie, that butt is not for you to sniff!

[suzycat]

"Paleface" aside, I like that ad more because the girl is acting like she has some agency and gumption instead of going "oh whatever shall I do, I will do a cute face and perhaps someone will save me".

I grew up with those ads and it was completely the norm to want to tan that brown if you were white. That is what a good tan was supposed to look like. It's interesting it started off so early though - to me tans are very much 60s and especially 70s things.

[luke_russell]

My sisters would go to Beaver Island and Crystal Beach near Buffalo NY in the early 50s to get a dark tan, so it goes back at least that far.

[zorinlynx]

Based on the number of people I see baking on Miami Beach, it still is completely the norm to want to tan that brown.

You won't catch me trying to, though. I'm white as paper and when I visit the beach I have a nice big umbrella over me, tons of sunblock on and I shift myself under the umbrella to keep body parts out of the sun if necessary.

I've seen what constant tanning does to skin by the time you're 40. Yuck. And that's not even thinking about stuff like skin cancer!