To wonder about sunburnt children before suncream was popularised?

[Leah5678]

Apparently wasn't popularised until the 70s. With children playing outside practically every day back in the days before television was invented how did they not burn? Did they just get used to it?
Apologies if this is an extremely stupid question just something I've been wondering about with the last few days of decent weather

I have memories of being burnt badly as a child after a trip to the beach. I was born in 1973. I remember peeling skin off after burning on several occasions.

No clue about the 1970s but thinking about my French nieces/nephews that live in the south, they spend a lot of time outside all year round, sunscream is really only for the beach or if spending all day by the pool, and so by the time the schools break up for summer they’re all mahogany coloured so don’t tend to burn. MIL looks like an old leather handbag though so it catches up with you in other ways!

Regularly burnt and peeled. Was regarded as normal especially after a trip to the beach.

I don’t remember getting burnt just playing outside but certainly did on holiday (1970s) to the point of not being able to sleep. My mother wouldn’t put sun cream on us because she’d read that it could stop you going brown.

🤣

I got very badly sunburned on more than one occasion in the early 80s, I can still remember the skin peeling off my back in strips!

Well my mum used to sunbathe using olive oil - in the 50s and 60s.

I grew up in the 80s and I can’t remember using sunscreen in the UK - factor 8 or 12 when on holiday. As a teenager in the 90s we did start to use it more at home, but that was initiated by me reading beauty magazines rather than my parents.

We would tan, or burn. My husband is very pale and tells me stories of him and his brother getting burnt on holiday and peeling sheets of skin off each others backs. Yuk!

DM used to make us put baby oil on! She really thought it protected us 😭.
I remember holidays where we had to use 'after sun' spray and peeling the skin off.

My mum remembers being sunburned as a child every summer on the beach e.g. Camber Sands in the 50s and 60s.

My abiding childhood memories are of being badly sunburnt every time I went out in the sun. I ultimately learnt to stay in in the shade.

I spent my childhood getting sunburns, even with suncream because we only had a very low spf. I would get terribly ill. Feeling like I was going to vomit from the pain.

i remember cool baths and lots of time laying inside recovering feeling like I could barely move. I remember my skin hurting so badly for days. Then it would peel.

Yep, I burned. Uk weather probably 2-3 times a year, sore enough that clothes hurt touching it.

abroad we used factor 15 for the first two days, then factor 3. I burned 😂

my mum would hire a sunbed before we went on holiday to get a “base” tan so we wouldn’t need sun cream.

fortunately because I burned so easily I learned pretty quickly to leave my t shirt on or sit in the shade. So while I have a lot of skin damage in the form of moles and skin tags, I have hopefully avoided the leather look.

I was born late 70s.

I frequently got sunburnt as did my friends. I remember people using g tanning oil in the 80s to really catch the sun.
I remember going to the park with summer play scene on a really
hot day, we were encouraged to go topless to keep cool -
thankfully I had started developing so was allowed to keep my top on, I would have burnt even more badly than I did!

I never burnt as a child but I did spend a lot of time outside so always had sone tan

Did burn when o started using sunscreen as the tan didn't build up and then at the height of summer I missed a bit

I have very pale skin and never tan/burn very easily. As a child in the 70s and 80s I got painfully burned every Summer. My mum also burns very easily and was careful about time in the sun long before it was common so I was encouraged to wear a hat and cover up as sun cream was not as easy to get or as good as it is now. I remember when factor 15 became available in boots etc and it was considered high factor. I also remember trying to wear a white T shirt over my swim suit to cover up a bit at a water park and being told I was not allowed in the water with it on, and also being told at school that I could not wear a cap when we were outside. If it was very sunny teachers would often take us outside for the afternoon in primary school and I frequently got burned. I once fainted in the heat too.

My DH is a similar age and also burns quite easily but his parents both tan easily. He tells of going to Spain as a child and having to sit in a cold bath in the evening to try to relieve some of the pain of the day's sun burn.

It was not a lot of fun being a pale skinned child on a hot day in the 70s!

I grew up in the 70s and frequently got sunburned. Vast sheets of skin peeling from my shoulders. Blisters that burst.

Even as adults, my mother would encourage us to "Take your top off. Get some sun on your body!"

I was diagnosed with malignant melanoma a few years ago. It's not pretty to have parts of your body hacked out.

Please please keep your kids covered up in the sun.

Even in the 80s, factor 4 was considered only for fair skin in a British summer.

I remember one joyful summer when I had both chicken pox and sunburn 😫

I was a child in the 80s and burnt severely!! I remember howling in pain on several ocassions.

One time I burnt the top of my feet - it is a vidid memory how in pain I was!

OFten peeling skin off our arms and legs - it was seen as funny oh ha ha my skin is peeling off!

Yup, burnt badly in Spain as a child. Went to the local doctor, he was pissed at my parents. They gave us these bandages to use. Still have the scars now

Burnt to blisters in '76.

Most years burnt at least once.

Tanning oils to encourage a quick tan were popular.

I was burnt very badly a number of times, as we're my siblings. My worst burn was on my chest - I had to go to the hospital after huge yellow blisters appeared and then burst.

My mother, uncle and sister have already had some skin cancer spots removed and I assume I'll have some too when I organise a checkup even though I've been super careful on the decades since.

remember it wasn't as hot - summers now are (on average - not looking at specific moments) much hotter in the UK. But - burning was extremely common.

and it was normal on holiday in the sun to see people absolutely red and peeling.

In the 80s we didn't really use sun cream. There was an idea that you'd burn once then your skin had 'toughened up' and would tan. Luckily I didn't tend to turn much but had friends with horrendous blisters/ peeling etc. probably all children of the 80s and earlier should get checked out for skin cancer

my uncle who grew up in the mountains of scotland (ie. there was not much sun) has skin cancer on his face from being outside all the time with no sun protection.

Grew up in the 70s and we pretty much played outside all day so I guess the tan built up naturally.
I do remember having bad sunburn a few times though and having calamine lotion applied.
Thought it was fun to pick off the peeling skin too! 😳