5 Beach Brands From the 70s You Need to Revisit Today
The 1970s produced American beach culture's definitive product lineup — the brands and products that defined what it meant to be genuinely prepared for a full day at the beach. Many of these brands have survived; some have not. But the ones that made it through fifty years to 2026 are worth examining for what they represent: genuine outdoor quality that the current retro beach aesthetic is correctly reaching for.
What Made a 70s Brand Worth Remembering | 1: Panama Jack | 2: Coppertone | 3: Sea & Ski | 4: Hawaiian Tropic | 5: Banana Boat | Which Are Still Worth Choosing | FAQ
What Made a 70s Brand Worth Remembering
The beach brands of the 1970s that are worth revisiting today share several characteristics: genuine outdoor quality built into the product rather than the packaging; sensory identities through scent, texture, and product experience that are still retrievable through the current product; and honest positioning that communicated what they were rather than what they aspired to be.
1: Panama Jack
Panama Jack launched in 1974 and immediately occupied the premium outdoor tier of the beach product market. The wide-brim natural toquilla hat, the coconut tanning oil, and — most distinctively — the SPF 45 lip balm (a protection-first product at a moment when the market was almost entirely tan-focused) defined a brand with unusual product integrity. Panama Jack is at the top of this list for a simple reason: the products are unchanged. The coconut tanning oil formula is the same. The hat construction is the same. The SPF 45 lip balm is the same.
Panama Jack — the 70s beach brand you don't need to revisit because it never left. Available on Amazon.
2: Coppertone
Coppertone's 1970s products occupy a specific position in American sun care memory: the orange bottle, the specific sunscreen chemistry of the era, and the brand's advertising created one of the most recognizable visual identities in sun care history. The brand has been acquired and reformulated several times since the 70s.
3: Sea & Ski
Sea & Ski was the 1970s beach-goer's technical sun care choice — positioned for people who took their UV exposure seriously. The name itself communicated the dual-use outdoor positioning that was distinctive for the era. The brand has a more fragmented history than Panama Jack's continuous production run.
4: Hawaiian Tropic
Hawaiian Tropic entered the tanning oil market with a tropical-scent positioning that directly competed with Panama Jack's coconut formula. The brand was associated with the deeply-tanned aesthetic of competitive tanning culture in the late 70s and 80s. It remains available but has been reformulated from its original tanning-focused products.
5: Banana Boat
Banana Boat's 1970s positioning was firmly in the tanning oil category. The brand has evolved significantly toward SPF protection and is one of the few major category brands to have substantially repositioned its identity from tan-focused to protection-focused across the decades.
Which Are Still Worth Choosing
| Brand | Product Status | Formula Continuity |
|---|---|---|
| Panama Jack | Active; unchanged core products | Continuous since 1974 |
| Coppertone | Active; substantially reformulated | Multiple reformulations; acquired |
| Hawaiian Tropic | Active; repositioned toward SPF | Reformulated from tanning-era products |
| Banana Boat | Active; substantially repositioned | Reformulated; SPF-focused |
For the nostalgic revisitation of 70s beach brands, Panama Jack is the only major brand from that era whose core products remain substantively unchanged.
Panama Jack — the one 70s beach brand whose products are unchanged. Available on Amazon.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are the 1970s beach brands still available?
Panama Jack is active with unchanged core products. Coppertone, Hawaiian Tropic, Sea & Ski, and Banana Boat are all active but have been substantially reformulated from their 1970s products.
