On my way to town today I took a different route and noticed a new little store with a tanning salon in the back. With all the media attention to how bad tanning is for your skin I am always amazed at how many of these salons there are, even in the smallest towns. I don't think I was even aware of them until we moved to the country. What's the story behind them? Are they more prevalent in western Kentucky than elsewhere? Do they make money? Do people get addicted to tanning the way they do to cigarettes so no amount of bad press matters? Did some tanning bed salesman have a heyday in our part of the country? Do they come with the sexy women always featured in the print ads? Please enlighten me :)!

-- Katherine in KY (KyKatherine@Yahoo.com), October 30, 2001

Answers

Tanning salons have been around since the 80's. I don't know about their being addicting, but I've seen them in just about every size town/city. I guess some people just don't care about the odds of getting skin cancer later in life - "live for the moment" is their motto.

-- Wags (wags@pitbull.com), October 30, 2001.

Now I don't know about town size, but I don't ever remember seeing them in such strange locations in larger towns. Around here they seem cram them in wherever they will fit. Video store/tanning salon, children's clothes consignment/tanning salon...it's a might peculiar if you ask me. There's nothing eerier to me than a deep bronze tan on a person in the dead of winter....it just ain't RIGHT.

-- gilly (wayoutfarm@skybest.com), October 30, 2001.

I lived in NC, about 20 minutes from the beach, and we still had a tanning salon. It was a tiny little town, and the building was a combo movie place/ florist/ tanning salon (entertainment, love, and beauty all conviniently located under on roof!)

-- Elizabeth (lividia66@aol.com), October 30, 2001.

They are everywhere. The fact is the beds aren't terribly expensive and provide a great return on investment for an existing business with a small spare room. It often starts with an owner or family member thereof wanting to 'tan' (I cringe at using a color as a verb here).

While never having used one (it'd be too short, anyhow) I can actually offer some logical defense for them. My blue-eyed daughter inherited my Irish skin so has to be careful when she travels to tropical climes. For her to go to Florida or points south from the depths of an Indiana winter would be devastating without some conditioning to the sun exposure prior to travelling. She uses it as a pre-exposure conditioning much as an athletes conditions themselves prior to exposing themselves to competition. Just my two cents' worth here.

-- Gary in Indiana (gk6854@aol.com), October 30, 2001.

It is the same here in lower Bama. My DIL has her own at home. Personally I have never used one and don't plan to. I don't think they are good for your skin. Of course, I don't go out in the sun if I can help it either. I love the shade. Take care.

-- Faye (rcart@millry.net), October 30, 2001.

We have em here too..and we are right at the ocean!!! My sister who is 41 years old goes 3 times a week. Her skin looks like leather. I can't imagine having the spare time to do that, but then...everyone has their priority. That sure wouldn't be one of mine..not ever. I could trim the hooves on all my sheep or something in the time she lays there sweating. I don't know...maybe she looks "healthier" now ....but I bet when we are 10 years down the road it won't be so nice. I already see the bad effects...she has been doing it for years. She has much naturally fairer skin than I do. I bet its easier to damage too. Anyway..to answer your question..they must be everywhere!!!!!!!

-- Jenny (auntjenny6@aol.com), October 30, 2001.

I too, like Gary's daughter, am reddish haired and fair skinned with a ton of freckles, hence I burn very easily. I have use a tanning bed for the same reason in the past for conditioning my skin before a vacation to a warm sunny climate. My senior trip for high school was to Mexico and I still got a burn, but not nearly as bad as a couple of other girls who were as white as snow. I don't use them anymore, partly because I don't take vacations like that anymore (got to many other fun things to do around home), and partly because of health reasons. I think it is a vanity issue with a lot of people and I'm not into impressing people with my looks. My DH thinks I am beautiful even in the morning. hehehe Besides I kinda like my "farmer" tan that I get in the summer. :-D

-- Kim in Indiana (kwcountrgirl@aol.com), October 31, 2001.

We have a lot of tanning salons here in central Maine. Moslty a hair dresser's shop will also have a tanning bed. My hair dresser friend just up the road from me has a tanning bed in her shop but is looking to sell it because she is too tied down year round with tanners. There are a few who will come in late winter to get tanned up a bit if they're planning a winter trip to the southern states and don't want to get burned. There are some who want to get a jump on their summer tans and there are those who tan practically year round. I think maybe it does get to be psychologically addicitve. The ones I observe that tan are for the most part attractive ladies. They are concerned about their appearance and always look nice. Their tan is part of their concept of being attractive. To me having to maintain a tan would be like coloring my hair and having to deal with roots. It just doesn't seem worth the effort.

-- Nancy in Maine (paintme61@yahoo.com), October 31, 2001.

They are a GREAT sex stimulator! Does something to the hormones,

-- Joe (CactusJoe001@AOL.com), October 31, 2001.

Now, that's a new one! I am anything but vain, but late in the winter when the blahs are really heavy, I'll tan just to feel better. The lights have a positive effect, and also knowing that I don't look pale and tired helps, too.

-- Shannon at Grateful Acres Animal Sanctuary (gratacres@aol.com), October 31, 2001.

I know someone that gets a prescription for tanning during the winter,, it helps with depression,, lack of sun

-- stan (sopal@net-port.com), October 31, 2001.

I know of 5 ladies, in our county, who tan year round because "they don't have time to sunbathe during the day"! Two of them have done it for 25 years & own their own 'beds'-have them set up in the extra bedroom. Their skin is now wrinkling much faster than others our age. But they are as brown as a bean at the New Years eve party! I think they could be safe if you use them with caution and not "cook" yourself! Where I used to get my hair done had one and she said she made more money off the tanning bed than fixing hair.

-- Debbie T in N.C. (rdtyner@mindspring.com), October 31, 2001.

Unfortunately, this is a subject I know a little about! I grew up in small town USA. When I was about 19, I spent some time going to a 'tanner' ... just enough to have that "healthy glow." I did not "cook" myself, only going occassionally and never getting really dark. It was, indeed, a change from my farmer tan, but I thought I was being pretty safe about it. A few years ago, I had a mole removed from my upper thigh because it just seemed to appear suddenly. My dr. was just as suprized as I when the results came back as Basal cell (sp?) cancer! While this type is the non-deadly type, I won't mess around with tanning again! I am also much more careful with my own children - not letting them get to brown in the summer. Guess I got over the 'won't happen to me' syndrome... My advice: Listen to the warnings...they're not joking!

-- Sherri in MI (bgames@ncats.net), October 31, 2001.

In the big city I see Tanning salons, Room full of tanning beds. In small towns a tanning salon is the back room of a beauty shop.

-- Gary (gws@redbird.net), October 31, 2001.

Light cabinets were in Dermatologists office's for skin ailments in the mid 70's. Even though I have had a bout of minor skin cancer, and have skin on my hands older looking than my mothers, from years of sun bathing in San Diego, both my daughters use tanning booths. My husband and his crew use them before summer hits, keeps them from getting burnt in the Houston sun. I think the premise of tan fat is better than white fat, will never go away. I have a farmer tan, never been in a tanning salon, though we used to sneak into the light cabinets whenever the doctors were out. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), October 31, 2001.

I have very fair skin with a few freckles and am blonde. I also go to Mexico every year. I do not feel the need to "condition" my skin in order to be exposed to the sun there. I bring plenty of sun screen and apply it liberally and often (this means almost every hour) and always wear a hat. This works for me. I do not burn from the sun there. We live in the country and there are several small towns around here (less than 1,000 people) and yes there are tanning salons here. Usually in the back of a hair salon or something like that.

-- Rose Marie Wild (wintersongfarm@yahoo.com), October 31, 2001.

I tell you what......in our LITTLE town of Orangeville the only thing that is there to designate "downtown" is a stop sign at a crossroad with a tavern on one corner, a TINY gas station on another corner and a tanning salon on the third corner. Who would have thought!

-- Lisa (lambrose@summitpolymers.com), October 31, 2001.

Yes Katherine, they are everywhere. If they are here in sunny Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, they are everywhere. Who would think you would need tanning beds in Florida and on the coast even? I've never been to one myself. I don't trust them frankly. Too many of them down here have been busted as being fronts for prostitution and such. Alot of folks like them b/c you can tan your ENTIRE body, hence no tan lines. Gee, I dunno, a tan butt was just never on the top of my "gotta have it" list!!! Go figure. Now if they could guarantee a "smaller" butt......maybe.

-- Greenthumbelina (sck8107@aol.com), October 31, 2001.

Good one Green , if they made your butt smaller we would all be there ! Would of warning , body parts that usually don't see the sun burn very easy {and hurt like hell} Don't ask how I know!

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@slic.com), October 31, 2001.

When I go to sunny climes, I no longer get a pre-tan from the tanning beds. I do not believe they're good for the skin. This summer I did try one of the modern "tanning lotions" to even out my "gardener's tan" when I attended a wedding. I used the Neutrogena brand, and I thought it looked pretty natural. I saw some comparison of brands and Neutrogena was judged to be one of the most natural looking and wasn't one of the most expensive. You do have to exfoliate first or the "tan" will slough off sooner.

-- Joy F [in So. Wisconsin] (CatFlunky@excite.com), October 31, 2001.

I've been saving up a few deer hides. Do you folks think one of those tanning beds would come in handy for tanning hides?

-- r.h. in okla. (rhays@sstelco.com), November 04, 2001.

Seems to work on most women who've tanned their hides - they end up with skin like leather. If it works on dear hides, why wouldn't it work on deer hides?

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), November 05, 2001.