Before medical science became aware about the dangers of overexposure to the sun, tanning had become a craze. The trend began in the 1920s and has been attributed to French celebrity Coco Chanel. It became fashionable during this era to spend the summers at the French Riviera. The rich and famous spent their days under the brilliant Riviera sun and turned appropriately brown. Tanning quickly came to be seen as a statement of ones position in life; previously only field workers had changed color under the sun but in the ‘20s it was the people who had the leisure and money to invest in expensive holidays. People all over the western world spent their summers semi-unclothed, baking in the sun, hoping to get that elusive brown tint into their skins.

The growing popularity of outdoor sports among men and women meant that more people were getting tanned. Bronze, slim bodies became the epitome of health and beauty.

The indoor tanning industry saw a fortune in the making and began to offer facilities where the client could tan without sweating in the suns heat. By the 1940s magazines were advertising dark make up and tanning oils.

 In 1985, alarmed at the growing incidences of skin cancer, the American Academy of Dermatology became the first medical society to start a public education skin cancer campaign, warning the public about the dangers of overexposure to the sun. Sunscreens with SPF ratings were introduced and the general public was informed that there was no safe way to tan, indoors or out.