1920s -1930s

Early 1920s - "Sun Therapy" becomes very popular and is prescribed as a cure for everything from simple fatigue to tuberculosis.

1920s - French fashion designer Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel popularizes the tan as a status symbol when she appears at the fashion shows with a golden tan obtained while vacationing on the French Riviera.

1930s - Hollywood movies begin to use color film. Soon, rosy cheeks and healthy pallors became the absolute necessity, and swimming pools with starlets basking around in the sun became the new California image.

1960s -1970s

Early 1960s - Cocoa butter, richer and more moisturizing than baby oil, becomes the tanning lotion of choice across America, while surf movies and the surfer lifestyle become all the rage.

1962 - The Beach Boys' hit the charts with some of their earliest tunes - "Surfin'," "Surfin' Safari," "Surfin' U.S.A.," and "Surfer Girl." All released in 1962-63 the famous songs helped raise the profile of the state of California and the sport of surfing.

1964 - 28-year old Dana Point filmmaker Bruce Brown releases the surfing documentary, The Endless Summer, a movie that reached out to social worlds beyond surfing and generated a positive image and publicity windfall for the sport that is still remembered and felt some thirty years later.

From Duluth to Paris, the surfer was no longer perceived as the archetypical beach bum or social laze about, but rather he became the symbol of a healthy and glamorous lifestyle, that during the later 60's, 70's, and 80's would greatly influence the look and tone of fashion, language, and leisure time activities throughout the wet and dry world.

1970s - The care-free youth culture demands a year-round tan so they could appear to have just returned from vacation. This spawned the development of the indoor tanning bed.

1970 - The first tan-through bathing suits are introduced.

1975 - First tanning beds appear.

1977 - Farrah Fawcett, one of the stars of the original Charlie's Angels, graces the walls of teenage boys' rooms with the sweet but sexy poster flaunting her beautiful tan and sparkling smile.

1979 - George Hamilton is the first-ever tan Dracula in the movie "Love At First Bite."

1979 - Bo Derek sets the precedent of the perfect women in the movie "10" showing off her tanned and toned body and becomes an overnight sex symbol for the following decade.

1980s -1990s

1980 - BMW advertised its convertible as "The Ultimate Tanning Machine"

1980s - Indoor tanning salons become widespread.

1987 - California Tan is founded with the launch of its first product, Maxgel, the now 'classic' tanning gel. Using a fully patented formulation, Maxgel, dramatically helped increase tanning results, while supplying the skin with essential moisture-rich ingredients.

1989 - California Tan discovers the tanning benefits of Tissue Respiratory Factors (TRF), a breakthrough tanning technology that allows the skin to function more efficiently to support greater tanning results and improved skincare.

1991 - California Tan announces Heliotherapy® - The Positive Effects of the Sun, based on the belief that, in moderation, sun exposure enhances physical and psychological health.

1992 - California Tan® introduces the first premium indoor tanning lotion - Sizzle® for "serious tanners," revolutionizing the indoor tanning salon industry and teaching the importance of using a lotion to maintain a healthy-looking tan.

1993 - Supermodel Christy Turlington admits: "I tan because I love it" in an interview with New Body magazine.

1995 - California Tan launches a national consumer magazine advertising campaign with ads running in Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Self and Shape magazines, becoming the first indoor tanning manufacturer to generate mass consumer awareness about indoor tanning.

1996 - California Tan founds the Heliotherapy Light & Skin Research Center at Boston University School of Medicine to earnestly study the positive and negative effects of the sun and UV light.

1996 - California Tan launches one of the largest national billboard campaigns of its kind, with more than 2,000 placements across the country.

1997 - In a survey in Seventeen Magazine, 2/3 of the teens say they look better with a tan, feel healthier and more sophisticated and 50% say they look more athletic.

1999 - Bronzed Brazilian model Gisele Bundchen explodes into the spotlight, creating a bronzing frenzy with women all over the country hoping to mimic her sexy, sun-kissed looks.