This is an old print ad for a Health Tan Sun Lamp. Take a closer look – that mother is holding her baby directly under a sun lamp! The manufacturer claims that one can't burn from using it. They even claim you can sleep under it. Believe it? Back then they did believe it. Who was the wiser?

By modern standards, this once innocent depiction of healthful living could be viewed as child abuse. In fact, many states in the U.S. are now banning young adults from using tanning beds which contain, of course, sun lamps. Children and adolescents who use tanning beds are at greater risk because of their biological vulnerability to ultraviolet radiation. Studies have shown that exposure to artificial tanning increases the risk of malignant melanoma and that the longer the exposure, the greater the risk, particularly in individuals exposed before the age of 30 or who have been sunburned.

Dirque du Soleil

He's from the past, so he knows the future...

dirque@erichatheway.com