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

Yep, similar as many other posters.

Burning and peeling seen as normal part of summer

Sometimes Suncream at the beach but otherwise just stay out and it will do you good....

I'm red headed and remember peeling badly in the 70s, my dark haired sister did tan and would like out in factor 4. I remember my mum shouting at me to put on sunscreen (it was really thick and difficult to rub in) and I was the only fair skinned one in the family and I hated being made to put it on. Kind of grateful now though...

Often burnt. I do miss my freckles now I keep out of the sun!

I'm a redhead born in the late 60s. I got burned on many occasions in my childhood and teens. I remember when factor 15 suncream first came out I thought it was a miracle!

God yes - remember vividly brothers and I picking each other's skin off like monkeys picking fleas

I mean, I know the science/cancer thing may not have been well known but how in the name of fuck did our parents not learn to maybe do things differently the first time out skin peeled off?'n

I was born in the early 70's and grew up beside a beach. I do remember burning but never to the point of blistering thankfully. We were always encouraged to cover up if we noticed part of our body getting too hot but to be honest I spent the majority of my time in the water so I never felt hot! I was very pale as a child but after years of sun damage I tan quickly now even with a high SPF on.

Yep. A sunday on the beach with my grandmother and she didn't shade us from the sun at all at ages 8 and 6. When we got home we were lobster coloured and covered in deep yellow blisters across our shoulders and backs, tops of ears etc.

We had to have two days off school and spent all that time lying in bed covered in ice towels and camomile lotion. My mother was furious and there was a huge family argument.

If you started to get a bit red on the beach the norm was for you to wear one of your dad's T shirts which had been dipped in the sea and wrung damp. But we were out all day, everyday in the sun.

I remember having painful sunburn and blisters. The term 'burn off' was used, it means burning repeatedly over the summer until your skin gets used to the sun ☀️!!

I grew up in the 80s and I'm very fair skinned - like others I remember we had a bottle of SPF 8 in the bathroom, that from memory lasted the whole of my childhood! I think my parents advocated the idea of the base tan - I never remember burning really badly or peeling, but I definitely remember the idea was to go a little bit pink (yes, I know that is also burning!) and then you'd be good for the rest of the summer!

Tbh though, I just kept out of the sun as I was never that much of a fan of it - I never remember burning badly and we tended to be the sort of family to get to the beach early on a nice day and be gone by the time it got really busy.

I just wasn't allowed outside. She resented it because it meant she couldn't go out and get more tanned as she was stuck indoors with me, but she would not buy sunblock or a hat.

This meant I just freckled all over my face and arms instead of burning in the ten minute walk home from school, but that pissed her off as well - she hated freckles as they were dirty, apparently.

Same, beach holidays in the early 80s, UK based. My shoulders were almost permanently burnt. And I never tanned - I would just go red in the burnt areas and white everywhere else, like a fucking crabstick.

People would just burn - badly.

My mum used to tell me how she would cover herself in oil and just lay the sun. My dad has a similar skin tone to me and burnt a lot as a kid too. They both grew up in Australia.

Both have bad sun damage as adults and worry about cancer. I was always covered in sun cream as a kid and only remember burning twice - once on my ear where clearly a bit of me had been missed, and once in Australia as a teen when it didn't feel hot and I decided I didn't need cream on. Luckily I didn't do too much damage.

I work outdoors now and either wear long sleeves or cover myself in cream and top up every hour. I still see people wandering around like lobsters and wonder how they can do it!

I can remember getting very badly sunburnt in the 1970s but that was my fault because I fell asleep in the sun on the beach in Greece. We first started going abroad in the early 1960s, and I can remember my parents buying us tanning pills which you had to start a week before you left home and took until you had been home for a week. But we always had sun cream even back in 1963, although the only brands I can remember were Ambre Solaire and Coppertone.

Sunscreen was around in the 1970s, but it was unusual for people to use more that factor 6 in UK (if anything) - that only really changed in 1976.

Holidays in the much stronger sun abroad were far rarer. And holes in the ozone layer were unknown. So the risks to the UK population were considerably lower.

Interesting because I grew up in one of the hottest countries on earth and using sun screen wasn’t a part of my 80s childhood but staying indoors during the hottest part of the day was, plus covering skin in clothing. School finished at 1pm and we went home and generally wouldn’t emerge again till about 4-5pm. Hats were a big thing plus long sleeved shirts and I remember my dad chasing us down to turn up the collars of our shirts so protect our necks. If we went to the beach or camping and so couldn’t avoid being out during the hottest hours we had umbrellas or shade structures put up. I do remember my parents being amazed that when some French friends came with us to the beach they refused to sit under the shade and parked their beach chairs in the direct sun!

We went to Spain in around 1980, my brother who was paler than me ended up very badly burned I remember.
Luckily I rarely burn as I am quite dark but I seem to remember my parents and most adults occasionally suggest someone wear a hat but that was all.

Yes, burning was considered pretty normal although I grew up in a hot country and we were encouraged not to burn, and we often wore sunscreen and burning wasn't a crisis but it wasn't considered okay either.

Today, if I have a mole that feels or looks even slightly odd, my doctor sends me straight to the clinic for checking because I'm fair skinned and she knows where I grew up. And I've had some scares. My father, who tries to avoid being in the sun without sunscreen but is also very fair, has had more problems and it's a real concern.

It's also worth noting that sunburn in the past was less dangerous. The ozone layer still isn't fully recovered plus the general impact of climate change.

I spent my 70s childhood being burned to a crisp on my august beach holidays. Not good but my mum was a sun worshipper and usually only used oil on herself with no protection factors. I think we were lucky as so far no dodgy outcomes.

I was born early 70s.

Lots of memories of being plastered in sun cream, wearing a sun hat and having to wear a t-shirt in the pool / sea when on holiday - and that was in the UK as we couldn't afford to go abroad until the late 80s.

We used sunscreen on the beach but it was only like factor 10-15 and the same bottle was used year on year so probably useless.
Never used it at home on a hot day, and never wore a hat.
But luckily didn't burn. As an adult I burn at the slightest whiff of sunshine.

So severely burned in the 70s/80s. I remember one I was so burnt it felt like my joints seized up and I could barely walk.
I’m very freckly and I’m sure a lot of it is early sun damage.
Tbf, I was neglected. I’m sure I remember other children having sun cream put on them.

I was born in the 70s and used to play out all the time. I'm lucky in that i tend to tan rather than burn, and I dont remember ever getting burnt in the uk. I'm from the mill towns of Lancashire so i don't think we saw the sun very often anyway 😂

I definitely remember using suncream in the 80s when we went abroad. I only remember getting badly burnt once, and that was when we were camping in France.

Born in 1965 in the tropics. Burnt regularly. Not sure sunscreen had been invented. We certainly never used it. By my teens, we were lying out in the sun covered in cooking or coconut oil and I'm very fair.

Certainly wouldn't do that now

Same us some others here, growing up in the 70s we (and majority of our friends) spent all hours outside and in all weathers so were pretty much perma tanned anyway and didn’t really ever burn. We did live in the country so maybe that was why we were always outside, might have been a bit more unusual to be outside that much in cities and towns I suppose. We used to have one annual day trip to the seaside and I don’t ever remember getting burnt even when it was very hot. I do remember, however, that we had one tube of Ambre Solaire In the bathroom cabinet. It was a white tube and the cream was pale brown, and it smelt divine. I was never allowed to use it though, it was for special occasions! God knows what that would have been, think we had it for about ten years!

I was also born in 1973 my mum.used to put sun cream on us if we were abroad ,but not in England ,I too remember getting burnt .