To wonder about sunburnt children before suncream was popularised?

Burnt and peeled. Sadly why skin cancer is common in my elderly patients.

Sun burn was a pretty regular part of my childhood in the seventies . People used to put oil on to basically fry themselves and children might have had the odd smear of Ambre Solaire but that was about it.

I was born in 77 and remember burning a lot as a child. The feeling of burnt skin sticking to a nylon sleeping bag while sleeping on an airbed will never leave me!

DM did put cream on me as I remember her rough, sandy hands but I'm a bit ginger and burn easily.

Grew up in the 80s and I don't remember burning much. I loathe wearing suntan lotion, even as an adult, and also dislike sunbathing, so now I always wear a wide brimmed hat in the sun, stay in the shade, or wear long sleeves. As a child my mother was fastidious about hats too.

The reference to the 1970s puzzles me.
I was covered in suncream whenever we went to the beach in the 1950s, & DM was not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

I remember camping holidays to the south of France in the early 80s when sun cream was new to us and although it did exist we were not primed to use it religiously like we are today. I remember my cousin in particular suffered badly with blisters that would then be popped. It’s shocking looking back.

I definitely burnt and I wouldn’t be in the least bit surprised if I get skin cancer

Kids played out in the street in the 70s and 80s, so as soon as it wasnt raining we were all out there in our shorts and sandals. Getting lots of sun on us before actual summer. This was south london for me so no forests for shade, just hard concrete paving and hot cars!

I bet you have beautiful skin now.

I was born in 1990. My mum was an absolute fanatic with the sun cream, sun hats, shade, shoulders covered (I was literally never allowed vest tops). Mum's brother died of melanoma in his early 30s, after a childhood and adulthood of constantly being outside topless and burning his "pale redhead" skin.

As a red haired kid born in the 70s I always burnt so badly.

My mum started to put spf8 on me but I still burnt to a crisp, so when I saw spf50 in the chemist I asked could I get it. Turns out in those days, that was just for holidays abroad in the sun, so I just kept burning.

I was born in the mid 80s I was always burnt and peeling. I don’t remember my parents EVER using sun cream on us. My mum to this day seems to find sun cream a confusing concept and has had the same bottle of factor 15 on the go for years!

We used to burn. I was born in 1981 and grew up by the sea. Suncream was considered a bit of an affectation. We were in wetsuits a lot so that helped, but I remember being in agony from my school shirt on my back. When I was about 8 we went to Spain and I remember insisting on wearing the same swimsuit all week for the tan lines. The only saving grace is that we are all pale so did sit in the shade a lot.

DP was even worse, he's 10 years older than me. He reined it in when he got a basal cell carcinoma on his face though.

Child of the 50/60s. Don't remember being burnt from playing in the garden or streets think as we were out so much it just built up to a bit of a tan but definitely pretty much everytime I went to the lido or beach. Smothered in calamine lotion at night if it was bad. My mum sunbathed wearing vinegar and olive oil, yuk!
I once had my shoulders burnt so badly in Ibiza I had to wear a tee shirt for the rest of the holiday, including in the pool.

child of the 50's and yes we burned sometimes. Sunblock wasn't a thing then but children wore hats and t shirts (at least we did) I don't ever remember burning badly but we did peel. the treatment was calomine lotion.

When I was 5 in 1982 my mum started putting factor 15 on me in summer. I had a sun hat too.

For this she was thought rather over the top by my sun worshipping granny.

Not me, but my (very pale) Mum got extremely burnt several times as a child/teenager in the 60s and 70s. She was also quite freckly by about age 3.

In the very early 70s I can remember the PE teacher ( female) sitting outside on the school terrace covered in cooking oil. It might have been olive oil but could have been sunflower I suppose. Remember her telling us 14 year olds it was great for tanning 😳
Only time my mother ever bought sunscreen was the only year we went on holiday. Probably because the sun is so much stronger in Devon than it was in Manchester.

I’ve got red hair and blue eyes so you can imagine how pale I am, I remember once being so badly sunburnt I had scabs, and that was from a school trip, probably would’ve been late 80s.

My DM was born in the sixties. Burnt a lot as a child and young person, used to even use sunbeds in her late teens/early 20s regularly.

From age 30 onwards wore very conservative clothing outdoors so hardly had any sun exposure after that age apart from to face and started to use sun scream on it around then.

Mid 50s was diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma.

Sixties child here, burning was the norm!
I used to go sailing 3x a week with no suncream and as a result have to have pre cancerous lesions burned off with dry ice. Age spots at a young age too!

I grew up in the 70s, no sun lotion and never burned that I can recall, although tbf i dont burn easily even though i am quite fair. Small children wore sun hats and were kept in the shade, I vaguely remember being told not to stay too long in the sun. We never went abroad but we were outside a lot, rain or shine.

People live longer now so it's possible that they were getting skin cancer previously but it wasn't picked up.

And then yes the ozone layer must play a part. And many people here talk about a culture of trying to get a tan in the 60s onwards which might not have been as prevalent before then? I know that in the past it was considered desirable to be pale skinned because being tanned meant you were probably a farm worker. But not sure exactly when this was the prevailing attitude.

Exactly the same for me, crying in the shower with pain!