by | July 2, 2026
In the 1960s, Every Shade of Summer Was a Coppertone
From soldiers to sunseekers to SPF, this iconic brand has covered it all.
Now and then, a scent lands us smack-dab in the middle of a memory. Growing up in 1980s Atlantic Beach, summertime was spent hightailing it on bikes to a glorious stretch of sand in front of the Sea Turtle Inn. Miles of shoreline pulsed with bronzed bodies and boom boxes, and the aroma of Coppertone suntan lotion perfumed the air. It was a carefree time in life, and that coconutty, cocoa-buttery smell instantly calls me back to those sweet summer days, when a good tan was tantamount to a good day.
The sunscreen concoction was invented in 1944 by a Miami pharmacist named Benjamin Green and was first developed for WWII soldiers. Made with red veterinary petrolatum, or “red vet pet,” the thick, waterproof emollient provided a physical shield against the sun’s rays and had an approximate SPF value of two. Green cooked up the greasy, unpleasant-smelling stuff in a coffee pot and then tested it on his bald head until he found a formula that worked. When the war ended a year later, he added cocoa butter and coconut oil for a more consumer-friendly version, and he called it Coppertone. The brown glass bottles flew off the shelves, and five years later Green sold his company to investors.
It was a carefree time in life, and that coconutty, cocoa-buttery smell instantly calls me back to those sweet summer days, when a good tan was tantamount to a good day.
-Cynthia S. Zimmermann
Coppertone’s ads played on vacation vibes and tan lines. In 1959, the brand debuted that famous little girl and puppy tugging down her swimsuit bottoms, a design created by Joyce Ballantyne Brand using her daughter as a model. Billboards sprang up along Florida’s major corridors, and there’s still a 35-foot mechanical sign in Miami, a nod to nostalgia. The company’s emphasis eventually shifted to a more health-focused campaign in the early ’70s, when a sun protection factor (SPF) was listed on their products.
Next time you’re in Miami, check out the corner of Biscayne and Northeast 73rd Street, where the Coppertone girl and her puppy still play. It’s an iconic sign that salutes to summer, nods to nostalgia and hearkens us back to days as endless as those Atlantic Ocean waves.
