Sjöberg Bildbyrå Fotograf Kristoffersson
Brown without sun - Premium poster with matte paper
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Poster with a picture of a young woman in front of a sun lamp.
Imagine the 1940s: war is raging in Europe, the radio is crackling with swing music, and in Swedish homes a new, futuristic gadget is starting to make its entrance – a magical light machine that promises to give you sun-kissed skin in the middle of winter! But what was this sunburn-inducing invention actually called? Well, at that time it was the ultraviolet lamp or quartz lamp that took center stage, and sometimes it could be given the slightly more poetic name of sun lamp. Let's take a trip back in time and take a closer look at this glowing phenomenon! In the 40s there was no talk of modern solariums with lying glass beds and built-in fans. No, no, this was a time when technology was rawer, more charming and perhaps a little more... adventurous. The quartz lamp was the star of the show. The name came from the quartz glass in the lamp, which could withstand the high temperatures and let through those mysterious ultraviolet rays that could conjure up a burn – or, if you weren’t careful, skin as red as a boiled crayfish. You sat in front of this device, often a clumsy thing with an aura of scientific mystery, and let the rays do their job. It was a bit like having your own sun on your table, but without palm trees and beach waves. Calling it a sun lamp wasn’t entirely wrong either. The name captured the dream of capturing the magic of the sun, even if the winter outside the window brought blizzards and sub-zero temperatures. But it wasn’t just sunburn that people were after. Quartz lamps were also used for light therapy and even to treat everything from winter fatigue to various ailments – it was a time when UV light was seen as a miracle cure for most! The doctor could prescribe a moment in front of the lamp as if it were penicillin, and at home it became a status symbol to own such a modern stunner. But it wasn't without risks. No one had heard of SPF 50 at the time, and the instructions weren't always crystal clear. If you sat there too long, you could easily go from "Riviera chic" to "just stepped out of a pot". Still, the fascination was total – here you had a device that could trick your skin into thinking you had just come back from the Mediterranean, even if the closest you had come was a trip to the bathhouse in the neighboring town. So the next time you hear the word solarium and think of today's high-tech sunless tanning machines, give a thought to the pioneers of the 1940s. With their quartz lamps and sun lamps, they paved the way for the dream of tanning, one glow at a time – and perhaps with the occasional giggly miss in the process. Because who could resist letting themselves be radiated to a golden complexion, when winter felt eternal and summer was just a faded memory?
Our premium quality, heavier, white, matte paper has a natural, smooth, uncoated finish that feels luxurious to the touch.
