Sea & Ski has apparently lost its tan, and no one knows where to find it.
In the 1960s commercials for the suntan lotion; it was always the more youthful lotion compared to Coppertone, which had an “all-ages” family appeal.
I recall Sea & Ski from my summers in the 1970s in Virginia Beach; it was sold in the beach store at my grandfather’s restaurant, Duck-In, and when he closed the store, we used Sea & Ski for a very long time afterward. It had iconic dollar green packaging with sans serif “Sea & Ski” logo.
A search for it online and in local stores shows it is available nowhere. That’s unfortunate because it even appeared in a second season Mad Men episode; two reps from the company pitch the brand for As the World Turns.
It’s a cautionary tale of what can happen to a great brand that is mismanaged and strays from its core. Within a few decades, something worth millions is suddenly worth little, and largely disappears from the shelves.
The trademark is still alive. Their United States registration was renewed this April 2009, registered by Sea and Ski Delaware, Inc., registered at 8900 S.W. 107th Avenue, Suite 301 Miami FL 33176. The last listed owner was Faulding Healthcare IP Holdings, Inc. of 1845 Elm Hill Pike, Nashville, TN, attorney Daniel Zendel.
A bit of history.
Sea & Ski has been owned by a succession of owners. It was apparently invented by Charles Rolley, who lived in Reno and had quite a colorful life, Time calling him a “kinetic promoter.” Rolley sold it to Botany Industries in 1955. Time magazine said in 1961 that it was the “nation’s biggest maker of suntan lotion (its dollar-green Sea and Ski grosses some $12 million a year).”
Even then, the dollar green packaging was well-known. It sold out in the late 1960s to Smith-Kline Pharmaceuticals. The brand was owned by Carter-Wallace (they of the condoms and Carter’s Liver Pills) until 1988, when it was purchased by Faberge. It then was involved in a series of messy lawsuits, all so complex as to give this brand columnist a headache.
Faulding Consumer, part of Mayne Nickless Ltd, was an old Australian pharmaceutical company; they purchased Sea & Ski in 2000 to go along with their other brand, Banana Boat. In 2002, Faulding Consumer hired Chris Evert to re-introduce the brand to consumers and moms. Apparently, it didn’t work as planned. In 2003, the brand was sold to Pathfinder Management Inc. It has been disappearing since.
If they bring it back, talk to us and we can tell them how to do it right. We even know of a graphic designer who can come up with the right feel. We are surprised that they don’t even have a simple website to indicate the fate of the brand; that would take someone just a few hours and would help keep the trademark viable.
Whatever they do, whoever does it, they need to start with that green packaging.
Tomorrow: The BrandlandUSA list of the TOP 7 Suntan Brands
I worked for Faulding Consumer back when they were trying to relaunch Sea & Ski. The problem was obvious back in the 2000’s and even more so now. The brand is too old. Who is the market for sunscreen? Families with children. Young families have no nostalgia for the smell of VA Beach in the 60’s. A mother wants the latest, healthiest product to smear or spay on her children. Not a green bottle that her grandmother remembers from 60 years ago.
The best way to take advantage of the brand is first of all to keep that magic scent. The second thing is to bottle it in the 50’s bottle which is great. I have a mint one sitting next to me filled with Sea & Ski and it’s an iconic bottle design…much better than anything followed. Send me an email I’ll send you a photo of the iconic mid-to-late 50’s bottle.
There is a Sea and Ski working website now. It offers very high SPF anti-aging creams and dry mist sprays, as well as two “tanning” products, one a lotion and the other an oil.
I have a ca. 1954, Sea and Ski squeeze bottle from when it was still made by the original manufacturer, Rolley Co. of South San Francisco. I wish I could post a photo of it here. I found it amongst my mother’s things when I cleaned out her apartment.
There is a Sea & Ski facility down the street from my house in Melbourne, Fl. It used to be a Lockheed Martin facility that manufactured military dirigibles.
https://seanski.com/
I loved Sea & Ski suntan lotion as well. I grew up in the 60’s and loved the smell of that lotion. I also had the lime flavored lip balm they sold. I haven’t ever been able to find anything that compares. I really wish they would come back out with the lime flavored lip balm. It really was nice.
Hello, I thought I would offer this item to the Sea and Ski fans out here. I am downsizing and looking to find a home for a heirloom from my family.
Vintage Sea and Ski Beach Umbrella. From Ocean City, NJ Purchased In 1964. Condition is Used. Some stitching has been repaired, otherwise in great condition for its age. Has been in our family since it’s original purchase. Non-smoking home.
Green/White/Orange colors.
If anyone is interested, please reach out to me at mpclark@att.net
I guess my posting was too long and it cut me off. So I will complete it here. Being a seasonal product created some challenges and Charles Rolley was getting older now. Charley was growing tied of lawsuits that are part and parcel to any business and as he put it he was tired of working so hard just to support lawyers and tax collectors. In about 1960 he was approached by Botany with an offer to sell the company for $1 million, which wasn’t a bad chunk of change for 1960. My grandfather agonized over his decision to sell the company and ultimately could not make up his mind. So, in frustration he told Botany that if they wanted the company the price was $2 million, figuring this would scare them away and they would leave him alone. Not quite. They came back and said we like the way you think and we will pay you $2 million. The deal was struck and the rest as they say is history.
Now, understand, nobody wishes he wouldn’t have sold the company more than me. But the good news is that a company in Florida named Cross Brands Manufacturing has brought back Sea & Ski. I had the pleasure of speaking with them the other day and they are dead serious about making it a great brand again with all the quality that you remember. With that I will shed a tear for our long lost family legend and bid you good night knowing that Sea & Ski is finally in good hands again. David Rolley
David, thank you so much for that bit of history. Will true Daphney be a perfume again? I look forward to finding sea and ski again. I am in Northern New Jersey and will be looking for it!
I tried a perfume tester of Bobbi Brown’s “Beach” and it took me a while but I finally realized that it smells just like the old Sea & Ski!
Yes it does! I wear it all summer! It just felt so summery to me. That’s why! I always used Sea and Ski. Wore it daily as a lifeguard all summer!
Hi David love the story about Grandpa Charlie so many great memories for me please contact me my Facebook is Gina Renault I want to see my family again Miss you guys!!!
According to U.S. Patent and Trademark records, Botany took over the brand in 1955.
I’m the Grandson of Charles A. Rolley, the inventor of Sea & Ski. I have enjoyed reading all of your comments about Sea & Ski and how much you liked it. Please let me provide some history of how the brand came and went. During world war II our troops had to go into North Africa to protect the oil fields from the Nazi’s. Our guys were getting sunburned by the hot sun over there so the U.S. Military provided our soldiers with a black cream to put on their skin to prevent sunburn. I believe they called it
“Pitch”.
After the war my grandfather Charles owned shop in San Francisco where he made and sold perfumes called Rolley Perfurmes. One day a supplier of essential oils used in making perfume stopped by on a sales visit and mentioned to my grandfather that his company had this product (pitch) that was used in WWII that prevents sunburn, but no but how had they had tried they could not solve the problem of the stuff going on as a black cream. They offered to my grandfather who took it and hired two chemist to figure out how to make it go on clear. They were successful. Being in the perfume business Charles knew that if the product did not smell good women would not use it. So he added one of his perfume fragrances to the newly developed suntan lotion. Are you ready folks? The name of the perfume or fragrance was called True Daffney. I bet some of you out there have a grandmother who grew up in the San Francisco area who may very well remember the Rolley Perfumes and True Daffney in particular.
My Grandfather’s wife came up the the name Sea & Ski because you needed for the beach and the ski slopes. Thus, a legend was born. The product was a wild success. Elsewhere on the internet is says that Charles Rolley sold the company in 1955. This is not correct. I believe 1955 was the year he founded the company. He sold the company around 1960, but stayed on as General Manager until 1965. The internet also says that my grandfather was from Reno, but that has never been true. He was born in Pennsylvania along with eight brothers. His mother moved them out to California because she didn’t want the boys to grow up and work in the coal mines as most of the men were coming down with black lung.
My grandfather lived in San Francisco, then Millbrea and then Atherton, California after he “made it big” on Sea & Ski. Sea & Ski was manufactured in South City (or South San Francisco if you will) and we had a warehouse in Reno to avoid California’s inventory tax. So that’s probably where the mistaken reference to my grandfather being from Reno came from.
An interesting tidbit about Sea & Ski is that because Sea & Ski was a seasonal product we would manufacture it in the winter time and have it ready for sale in the summer time. So, in the summer time Sea & Ski had to lay off most of its workers. This presented a problem as we were not always able to get the same employees back when winter came around again. This meant that employees had to be trained all over again. As luck would have it there was another company that I know you have ALL heard of that manufactured a product in South San Francisco that was also a seasonal product, but the opposite season. They would manufacture their product in the summer time for sale in the winter time, mainly for Thanksgiving and Christmas. That other company was See’s Candy. It didn’t take long for Sea & Ski and See’s Candy to form a somewhat informal agreement to have the workers work at Sea & Ski during the winter and at See’s Candy during the summer. It worked out well for all involved. So the worker that made the suntan lotion you put on your skin in the summertime may have well been the same person that made the candy you ate during the holidays.
Sea & Ski is a wonderful product, but suntan lotion is primarily a seasonal product.
David, your Grandfather was a very kind man. I dated your aunt Carol in the summer of 1973 a few times before she went to college at SF State. How is she doing? I can still remember the Atherton home. When you walked in the front door and to the right,there was an antique pool table under a nice leaded overhead lamp. Charles and I played a game while Carol was getting ready to go out. I know she was adopted, so I hopefully have her relationship to you correct. Thank you for sharing the history of your family.
Hi David Omg how are you?? it’s your sister Gina I still live in Costa Rica my two girls are all grown up Gianina lives in Florida and Nicole in Mexico I tried searching for you but your nowhere in the net how are you doing how is the family??? I really miss you guys and would love to see you all again look me up in Facebook Gina Renault so we can talk I want to catch-up on all these past years please contact me.
I just read an article dated 2018, they were bringing Sea & Ski back. If I am not mistaken, it was out this summer of 2018. There is a place in Florida that will be formulating and distributing Sea & Ski. There will be some changes regarding formulation, because of skincare industry and skin cancer prevention. I believe they will use the same iconic fragrance. I hope you all are able to purchase it. Currently, as I am writing this post, it’s the end of August: August 30, 2018, so summer is nearing an end for many, but not for us in Mississippi. We still have heat index at 100! It’s the same for several others states, also. I enjoyed reading your comments, as nostalgia is bittersweet. Be blessed! — Denise
I’m holding 2 bottles of it and it’s at Harris Teeter in Summerfield, NC, on markdown/sale for $3. Had never heard of it so Googled it….
Are these Sea & Ski bottles still available? Are they the light green plastic bottles with the red opener at the top?
I wish I could see them!
Their Amazon page has a few options, I think.
https://amzn.to/3aBhvmm
Can still smell it….
Va. Beach in the 60’s……….
Sea & Ski Suncare is back everyone and it’s better then ever! I know You miss that classic scent! Product available at Walmart.com and available to buy on our website Seanski.com under shop now.
I’m in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. They are selling Sea & Ski at the farmacia here!!!! I grew up with my dad rubbing it all over my face! I have super sensitive skin and have missed it for years! Looked on Amazon (where I usually find everything) and they don’t have it yet. But it does exist! Saw a 30 and 50 and 50 sport. Same green bottle, smells the same too. They even have it in the new kind of spray bottles. I took a photo, wish I could attach to this link.
I grew up on Sea & ski. The orange mousse sunscreen was the best. My african american friends loved it bc it didnt give them a white hue when they put it on. There is no sunsvreen for women of color. That was the closest thing. Its all on how you market it. Please bring back that mousse. I miss it very much.
I have been searching for Sea and Ski for 35 years. Liss comented about finding the lotion at different venues but I reside in the Pacific Southwest aka Tucson Arizona. The fragrance always reminded me of summer and going to Huntington Beach, California when I lived there. If anyone knows where to get this product in my neck of the woods please email me at jolenewhitley1954@gmail.com. Please!!!!!!
Hey, As promised…. You can find SEA&SKI in many major Retail Locations right now! WINCO, HEB, HARRIS TEETER, GIANT FOOD, STOP N SHOP, SHOP RITE, HARPS, BIG Y and many MOM & POP Independents, beach and Resort locations! TRY IT, SMELL IT…. SEND US YOUR FEEDBACK….. seaNski.com!
(PS. TANNING Lotion and Lip Balm coming soon!
Sea&Ski is back! Checkout the new http://www.seanski.com #seatoshiningski – get hip!
Politically correct ….
No Sea and Ski.
That’s why.
now, they have to add junk bad for you, can’t leave well enough alone….sad
I want the smell. I can no longer find any sea and ski and coppertone lotion with the strong smell of summer/coconut. This smell meant summertime and I wanted to apply this lotion due to the smell. These companies have lost the idea of why people should apply sunscreen. Put the smell back. Makes me want to apply it.
I’ve been looking for it for years. Yes – the smell I always loved. Very distinctive smell. It was so good that it even seemed to stop the tanning rays. Probably the best and safest ever.
I just bought a Yankee candle scent called Sun and Sand that I swear smells like Sea & Ski. Like so many other commentors, the scent immediately took me back to summers at the beach with my family… many, many years ago.
I just bought a Yankee candle scent called Sun and Sand that I swear smells like Sea & Ski. Like so many other commentors, the scent immediately took me back to summers at the beach with my family… many, many years ago.
I love that I’m not the only one who has searched for Sea and Ski. The smell is very distinct and I wish they would make a fragrance from it. I would definitely wear it and think of summer all year long. I know this sounds crazy but the smell of it makes me happy, perhaps its because it reminds me of my childhood and the times spent at the beach with my family and friends. I really hope they bring it back but it better be the same like before. I also liked Bain de Soleil.
I also was someone who enjoyed many vacations on the Atlantic coast. I never even tried any other brand of tanning lotion not only because it was the best but Sea & Ski also had that unique amazing smell that almost all the other comments here mentions. Although it is just a body lotion, the first time i used it it took me back to that Sea & Ski smell. The product is Nivea Body Lotion for dry to very dry skin and contains almond oil. Give it a try and see if you don’t agree that Nivea may have the closest thing to that great smell. Sooner or later some company will probably start producing the best tanning lotion ever and watch it become America’s # 1 selling brand again.
Bring back SEA N SKI tanning lotion!!
Sea and ski was the BEST suntan lotion – I never burned when I used it. Nothing on the market works as well as the old Sea and Ski, please bring it back!
Sea and Ski is back – http://www.SeaNSki.com
This along with Coppertone were the ONLY suntan lotions my family and I used ever since I was a child. I tried to find this a few years ago with no luck. I can still find the Coppertone but the problem is I don’t like the tropical scents they use these days. The original fragrance takes me right back to the ocean I grew up at in MD and VA. Soooooo, I found a GENERIC brand and that has the right “sea” fragrance. This is what I use but being such a fan of Sea & Ski/Coppertone I dump the generic in the Coppertone bottle and use it. haha. Can’t find a S&S bottle or I would do that with that one, too. Anyone ever find it brought back on the shelves PLEASE announce it!
I remember the smell of this sunscreen so well from my youth in the 1970s at Aldinga Beach in South Australia.(best beach in OZ) How could such an iconic brand known worldwide disappear?
I loved smell of Sea & Ski and thinking about it brings back memories of going to Caladesi Island off of Dunedin FL with my Grandparents and siblings back in the late 60’s early 70’s. That was the only lotion we would use.
Sea and Ski is so iconic to my youth and the smell is what was so great. With all these requests, I think the resurgence of this product would fly off the shelves!
If anyone knows if you can really find that fragrance again, Please let me know
There has never been a better product. I continuously search each year for Sea and Ski. Nothing has ever come close. That fragrance is fresh, clean, and brings happiness and great memories. I hope someone, some day will get smart and bring original back. Green packaging and original fragrance. I can still smell today. No fakes!
I have just found this and I have been looking for sea and ski for years.. when I was growing up in the 60s, my mother slapped some of the sea and ski all over me and my brother.. now, if I could find it NOW, I would use it on my grandkids.. I can still smell the aroma that it had.. I grew up in Redondo beach, cal…
Ialso lived in Atlanta in my latter years . Worked for Colonial Bread. Enjoy your stories… See if you can do a Va. Beach story on here about Bayville Farms Milk…. My dad did door to door delivery. Also I correct SEA AND SKI
Garland- I remember the Duck Inn, Lynnhaven Pier, Charlies, the best seafood in the world from the Chesapeake Bay………. Sea and ski, great…..
New Sea & Ski products start shipping on July 12th. More to follow. You can now recapture your youth by purchasing Sea & Ski again!
Ben Adams –
You will LOVE the new SEA&SKI CROSS SPORT GEL. I am confident it will meet your expectations and beyond… Light, no fragrance… melts into your skin instantly!
Will be on the market if not this fall, next spring 2017. We are selling to Retail Stores NOW!!!
I too have been looking for S&S for years now. Smelled like the beach ( which I loved ) and the only suntan lotion that ever gave me a tan, also great for sunburn. If anyone finds out how to get some please let know.
OK, I loved S&S as much as anyone, but never saw a green bottle. Maybe because I got on it in mid-80s? It was clear bottle with blue label and what I mostly liked about S&S was how “light” it was. I do not like the heavy oils and fragrance of most typical suntans oils, lotions of today. Sea & Ski was just a quick squirt on , quick rub and that’s it. No heavy banana, or nut oil, felt like almost just splashing some mineral water on!
I used to buy like 6 bottles at a time, too bad, another nostalgic product of our past gone forever?
Soon Everyone will be able to recapture that Iconic Smell of Summer….. Spread the word….
Look and ask for it at your favorite neighborhood locations starting late this summer!
Soon Everyone will be able to recapture that Iconic Small of Summer….. Spread the word….
Look and ask for it at your favorite neighborhood locations starting late this summer!
I ran across Pier 1 home fragrance “oceans” a few years ago. My immediate reaction was a visual flashback to So Cal beaches and sand crabs, and the Sea and Ski bottle on the sand. I’m not sure how close the scent is, but it definitely hit sensory nerve.
No matter when and where I smelled it, it was the smell of SUMMER.
Scent memories are so powerful. That’s why I can talk myself into spending $75.00 on a bottle of Bobbi Brown Beach perfume. That scent is very close to Sea & Ski.
Does anyone know the exact original ingredients for Sea and Ski Suntan Lotion. Green Bottle? If they can read them off of the back of a vintage bottle maybe we can try to mimic it or make some some possibly? I have never found anything that compares to it. Used it in the 60’s. I got a really dark golden tan pretty fast. Never burned. ( And i am light skinned) so that stuff was really on spot.
miss my sea and ski – used suntan lotion as a teen and their chapstick – loved it…cant find it anymore. please bring it back
Garland, please let me know how you get on ordering bulk online. Will they send overseas?
I will research…thanks…
Well, I funnily enough I discovered Sea & Ski sunscreen working in Hong Kong in 2006. At the time it was in a few chemist shops. I bought heaps as I have very sensitive skin and it was one of the few sunscreen products that didn’t react with my skin and it really did a great job. Anyhow, within 6 months I couldn’t find another tube of it ANYWHERE in Hong Kong.
Skip ahead to 2015 and I was recently working in a small county town in Taiwan and there on the bottom shelf almost out of view was the very same tubes of Sea & Ski. I literally bought dozens of the tubes as I was leaving to head back home. I’m now down to the last few. If you can read Chinese I think you can go online to Watsons Chemists in Taiwan and order them online. cheers.
thanks for this..i might try to get some in bulk ….
Yankee Candle has a scent, Sun and Sand. When I put my nose close to it I smell Sea and Ski. I was born in 1959 in Panama City, FL, moved to Cocoa Beach, FL in 1960 so I know the scent. If you want to smell it, get this scent of Yankee Candle. Hopefully they still have it; I’ve had the candle for about a year but just started burning it. I think they broke the Rolley, Sea and Ski scent code at least.
So many of us with fond memories! What’s it going to take to bring Sea & Ski back so we can share it with the next generations? 🙂
it was summer 1963 and my dad would take my sister and I to the beach and he would put sea and ski on our faces, we were just little guys. God I miss those days. I love you dad.
it caused cancer I think was reason they quit, read years ago.
Wow! Not a negative comment in all these. It’s amazing as bakilite recently said…I agree with everyone. I never burned wearing Sea & Ski. And the smell, yes, there’s nothing like it. It’s the beach in a bottle! Scott, if you’re still in the sunscreen business, I wish you’d find this formula. As you can see, there are LOTS of us who would order a huge supply. Find it someone…there’s nothing like it! 🙂
It’s amazing how a bottle of sun tan lotion can evoke such nostalgic longing for one’s youth. Believe me, I get it, because that green bottle triggers memories of all those long ago beach trips.
Like all the other posts, I miss Sea & Ski too. It reminds me of my childhood at my grandparents’ pool and summers playing in the sand on the beach. I stumbled upon a Coppertone Ultraguard 50 SPF lotion that smells remarkably like our beloved Sea & Ski. Every time I put it on I experience nostalgia. Try it for yourself and let us know what you think.
I’m striving to obtain a vintage plastic green Sea & Ski Suntan Lotion bottle. It has an orange cap on it. It was their standard container in the 50s. Also, on the Atlantic City Boardwalk, my favorite neon sign was about this product, as well. IF anybody can help me obtain this particular container, or has any pictures of the respective neon sign, please let me know.
Thank you!
I loved Sea & Ski! I feel the same way that everyone else does! That is all that we used growing up. I do remember that it came back a few years ago, but then disappeared again. The fragrance wasn’t what I remembered, so I guess they changed the “recipe.” Would love to see it back on the store shelves. Who owns the rights now, and why are they not producing it?
I just listed a package of Sea & Ski on ebay. The product is not usable because it is so old, but the box is great and the tube is great. Item number 381280737699.
Just came upon this thread because the fragrance of an Arbonne face product I was using reminded me of Sea & Ski and I had to find out whatever happened to it. Smells are some of the strongest memories we have because of the links between the olfactory nerve and certain parts of our brains. I grew up on the beaches of southern Cal and Sea & Ski was the ONLY sunscreen we had in the house. How I miss it!! Sure enjoyed reading the online family reunion of the inventor, too!
I loved Sea & Ski as well but I loved the ‘Golden Tan’ formula, an orange bottle with a yellow cap, the product was a a light golden yellow and a bit richer than the green bottle and had an SPF of 4 ( I think the green was SPF 6 and the Dark Tanning Oil was SPF 2 ) I think they also had an ‘after tan’ moisturizer and zero SPF oil as well as sprays, butters, foams and nose and lip balms. ( Late 1970’s)
I can’t tan for the life of me but sea & ski tanning spray actually worked! Then, poof, it was gone.
When I hear the Beach Boys’ “In My Room”, I get flashbacks to the So Cal beach scene of the 1960s. I can even smell Sea & Ski.
So true, listening to the Beach Boys (for me it was the song All Summer Long) and that great scent of Sea n Ski, you could smell it as soon as you walked on the beach. Bringing it back would make this dull world of today a better place. It came in a green and orange bottle, the old Coppertone scent was great too, but Sea n Ski was the best, bring it back, I will buy a lifetime supply!
I smell every different bottle I discover,no such luck! Miss this one of a kind lotion! It’s all I ever used in the 60’s. Please return the”ORIGINAL” product. My life isn’t the same. Ask Donald Trump for $$! Miss this stuff in my life!!!!!
I have been looking for Sea ‘n Ski for years. I used it whilst working in Greece in the ’70’s, I never had anything but a gorgeous suntan, and soft skin. Never went red, and oh that smell! Please bring it back.
Im on my last drop of sea & ski which had expiration date of 12/03. I love it! Contains asta Zanthin vitamijn A, C, E &K. Smells good, feels good and makes me look younger. I am 62 now. Dont know if I found it in old beach gear or at the $ store. Have been looking for it again and wondered if company had changed name or if anyone had found anything comparable?
It will be almost 5 years since I originally posted and started this Sea and Ski thread. I am amazed at how many people remember this fragrance all the way back to the 60s. As to the question of fragrance; it is like trying to describe the taste of a cola to someone only experienced in tasting traditional fruit flavors in which no blend of fruit flavors will taste like a cola. What is amazing is that no one has any interest in resurrecting the original package and fragrance. It is like knowing there is a winning power ball ticket out there and no one is claiming it!
One word describes Sea and Ski….SUMMER!!! Back in the late 60’s Dad would be hooking up the boat trailer,while Mom would pack us a picnic.My three brothers would help dad get the boat ready and I, well my job was to grab the Sea and Ski. I would have it open on my way out of the house just to smell that WONDERFUL scent! Nothing could or has since, ever come close. It had Coppertone beat hands down.We were a family of 6 and us 4 kids used it all summer long and then some so you can imagine the number of bottles we always had in the house, boat, Dad’s tackle box, the shelf in the linen closet and not to mention my own personal stash hidden in my room! (what can I say, we were a big family and I did not want to run out of it!…this girl liked her tan!) In 2000 our mother suddenly passed at only 63. My youngest brother and I had the task of clearing out the family home. We both cried a lot that first week. Neither of us felt as if we would ever smile again. Then one day I began to clear the linen closet and there it was, way in the back on the shelf a bottle of Sea and Ski. The wide flat hairbrush white with blue stripes(packaged with the lotion one year as a freebe) sitting next to it. I opened it and that wonderful smell of happy summers filled the air, surrounding us with comfort and believe it or not, smiles. We sat on the floor in that hallway for a few hours talking about summers and even laughing over the time we ate ketchup sandwiches on the boat because someone forgot to pack the lunchmeat! I said “I wonder if this is like the “pennies from Heaven” people talk about”. It must of been because we found bottles of Sea and Ski here and there over the next month when we felt pretty down as we continued the task of clearing the house. We felt as if Mom was trying to help us get through this in the only way she could from Heaven, by bringing us smiles and great memories when we’d find another bottle of Sea and Ski in a odd place. That first bottle we found along with the hairbrush sits in my china closet now, along with some other things I hold dear. There must be a way for some company to get the original formula and start making it again. The same bottle design, and MOST IMPORTANTLY the same ORIGINAL SCENT! Today, all lotions try to “keep up with the Jones’s” with these scents that smell like perfume counters in dept. stores that can be bad for those of us with allergies to heavy perfume scents. They should smell like Summer, like Sea and Ski.!! Come on companies…WAKE UP!!! Sea and Ski lovers would buy it today, it would be a staple in our households much like was back then. Would someone PLEASE listen to the people when we tell you what we would rather buy? It would sell for generations to come. Sea and Ski did not fail with the public…I agree with others that it was poor management and some wrong decisions, that failed the public. Someone should have the backbone to take the chance and bring the original Sea and Ski back to the masses! It just may surprise you. And to Charles Rolly, a big THANKYOU to you for developing the best suntan lotion ever made, one that has, and will always be a part us and our memories.
This was a great product and I agree with all the people’s comments about bringing it back….you will make millions and what about the classic cologne called “Jade East” ? Something for you entrepreneurs to think about….Mmmmmmm..
Sorry Scott there are no words to describe the sent. But I will never forget it. I’ve no found anything remotely close.
Just came across this page while I was doing research on a vintage bottle of sea and ski tanning cream. It is in a glass bottle, 2 fl ozs, with a black twist cap. The label is in a blue teal and white. And has a patent no168390 on the bottle.
Would like t sell but don’t know the value 🙁
Hi Gina Marie and Charles Rolley. I would love to hear from you. Please call me at 510 258 4035. No computer now.
Love Cathy
I remember going to the local pool and seeing and using Sea and Ski lotion…. brings back good memories… but almost everything I like has been discontinued……Huh
I was in high school in Atlanta in the late 1960’s (who can forget the Summer of Love, 1967!). Sea & Ski Dark Tanning Oil (dark chocolate brown in white lettering with a gold cap) was what I used every year. I miss the famous 1967 radio commercial Sea & Ski had that used the music, “Girl Talk”, as their theme song. What fantastic memories!! Sea & Ski was the best!
Yes, I want Sea & Ski back on the shelf. I completely remember how it smells, if you can believe that. I agree nostalgia packaging and a good product is worth it. Good luck I hope to see it in the store again someday.
Hello all!
Does anyone have the Bengal Glancers and/or Girl Watchers they are willing to part with? I will pay ANYTHING for either, in any condition.
Girl Watchers, not to be confused with Boy Watchers, look like the Bengal Glancers without the jewel in the center.
http://i899.photobucket.com/albums/ac199/jumpinacrater/a932/img014f.jpg
Seems like this is the only forum besides eBay and Esty where I can try to reach out to other members who may have those glasses.
Thanks!!
Merrill
mzulueta@mac.com
Hello Bad Lieutenant:
Are you still out there?
I was intersted in those glasses.
Please contact me:
rcr3@sonic.net
Thank you ~ Ren
Hi Bad Lieutenant – are you still willing to sell the “Girl Watchers” beachglasses? I’ve been looking for those pair since forever. My email is mzulueta@mac.com
Thank you!
My buddy and I vistited San Diego beaches every summer flying in from Phoenix. There were the years between ’67-’70. Needless to say, we were both athletes, blonde, blue-eyed and thanks to Sea and Ski, bronzed to the max! I also added a pair of blue, wrap-around ‘girl watcher’ sunglasses to the tanned face and lost my virginity on Ocean beach because she loved the sunglasses with the tan!! Hahahahaha boy we thought we were hot! Now at 60, I could only find one pair of new condition ‘girl watchers’ about 2 years ago and purchased them. They are a gold color I hadn’t seen very often … and searching the web, you can’t find anything about these particular colored ‘girl watchers’. If anyopne can shed slome light where I could go on-line to research these, I’d most appreciate it! I searched for hours in many search engines and eBay, … even Worthpoint, but none for sale currently. The ones I have are near pristine, no box or blister card, … but are wrapped up in bubble-wrap for the right person desiring to add these to their collection.
I wanted to find the blue ones I had as a kid, but for collector value, I’ll go with these gold pair as the ‘girl watchers’ are near extinct! 🙂
If you are interested, get in touch with me via my e-mail supplied here, I will send you .jpegs. $100 US Postal Money Order buys them. I’ve enjoyed them, time for someone else to remember those good times on the beaches or slopes sporting these ‘space age’ looking sunglasses!
-BL
this cracks me up Bad Lieutenant..ahh summer memories..
The 1960s 70s Sea & Ski had a certain distinctive image: cool, “the In Crowd”, somewhat upscale (think boating, yachting, skiing). The smell was fresh and invigorating, the packaging and lettering was a indicative of sporty action. I liked the product and bought it many times. Wish I had saved a few of them. The new, repackaged 2009 version of Sea & Ski is in no way anything like the original. The new one looks like a cheap, discount brand of petroleum jelly. I will never understand why companies pick up the rights to market a classic brand and then ruin it by making it cheap and completely unrecognizable! If you bring back a classic brand to market then do some research and bring it back with the same package and lettering as when it was a huge success and consumers will happily buy it again. I’ve spent twenty five years studying consumerism and package design. That along with the current trend for original appearing vintage 1960s everything and is what companies should pay attention to and market it like that once again. Perhaps the concept is so easy to understand that companies don’t understand it LOL!
Wow- there are a lot of fans of this old product which have really been created through the scent it had.
Can anyone please describe what the original scent smelled like? I own a sunscreen company and am very interested in what kind of smells create such strong feelings and bring back such great vivid memories like everyone has described!
Any feedback will be GREATLY appreciated and could see us bringing out a similar product!
It was definitely not like the coppertone type smell but I can’t put it into words sadly
I absolutely loved the smell is Ski & Ski! I have been looking off & on for years at different stores hoping to find it again. The smell brings back
many great summer memories!!
I too remember, loved and miss my Sea and Ski lotion. I would have driven miles to get my hands on the original lotion. It was all I ever used for my face moisturizer as well. Please if it is possible to bring it back with the original scent you have a customer for life.
I loved Sea & Ski in the 70’s and 80’s as well. I could find it on the West coast but never the East and as the years went by couldn’t find it anywhere! The smell was so clean and refreshing! It amazing that a product with so many followers is no longer available.
Hello Cathy and Charles, My God so nice to hear from my family many many years have gone by, I still live in Costa Rica with my grown daughters Gianina and Nicole, Renee lives in Florida with her two sons Julio and Cristopher. My Mom Adele past away a few years ago. Is Charlote still alive??? How is Tony, Dennis and David doing??? I miss the old days, I would love to have a family reunion to see my family again, and also meet the rest of my family members that I don’t know. By the way Sea&Ski would be a hit here in Costa Rica the tropical weather would love it!!!! PLEASE GET BACK TO ME,,, HUGS, Gina Marie….
Our family used S & S until discontinued. About 15 years ago, my sister was in a large store and was buying copper tone. At the counter was a salesman and he overheard my sister ask the clerk why no more Sea & Ski. The gentleman told her he was selling copper tone and that New Jersey & Oregon were the only 2 states wher S & S outsold Coppertone. Please bring back green bottled, original scent!
Sea and Ski reminds me of happy days on the beach. I love how it smells! Is there a chance they would bring Sea and Ski back to the shelves?
my Husband and I were just talking about Sea and Ski.the one we always used was a brown jar with orange or yellow lettering. Oh, that smell!!!! we used it the summer of 1980. what memories!
I have just struck gold. I was clearing out my late fathers golf equipment, and discovered a full bottle of Sea & Ski that he had carried in his bag. We were avid water skiers back in the late 50’s and 60’s, so us kids were constantly slathered with this. I opened the cap, and one little sniff just took me back. I hope someone brings it back…
keep it around! someone might need it if the formula ever comes back so we can match the smell with the true
Every year my sister and I search the Internet, hoping we’ll find Sea & Ski. We found some several years ago but not since. It looks to me like there is definitely a following. If we loved it this much (and we did), this generation would too!
They were sellign it in Canada as late as 2006. It had zinc in it, was a great product
Anyone who manufactures Sea and Ski with the original scent will make a fortune! All our memories will return! That is worth a lot! I knew it worked, but I didn’t know why….I am a late 50’s early 60’s Cali gal from St. Helena. So nice to hear about the family! Please bring it back!
I also remember Sea & Ski. My Great Uncle was Charles A Rolley. My father was Charles Irwin Rolley. My grandfather was Paul Edward Rolley.
I would like Joel, Gina Marie and Cathy to contact me.
I had a Sea and Ski Mousse I loooved so much that was water proof, it went on better than anything I have ever had, I would love to see that back on the shelves again. I hope this gets resurrected soon. Great memories from childhood
I’m the granddaughter of Charles Rolley, the inventor of Sea & Ski suntan lotion. Thanks to all of you for all your kind words about his lotion. It brought back memories. I still have one of the original bottles, but it’s empty.
Hi, to Joel (my nephew) and Gina Marie (half-sister). How are you doing, Gina?
I agree the scent was great!
I have a tube mf tanfastic and the i think its the batch #4561 if u mighb interested its in good shape give me a call @41044070741 thanks MAW
Bummed in Aspen in the late 60’s Sea & Ski seemed to be used by everyone. It was often said that in the spring (under the lifts) it was strewn with Sea & Ski lip balm containers…and as others have mentioned, it had a fragrance of its own. Hmmm, wonder what ever happened to my old girlfriend!
Found two tubes at an estate sale, still works great. If anyone knows where and how to find more please contact me !!!! Sea & Ski rocks
I still have an empty tube of Sea & Ski, I have looked everywhere…stores, the web. I would be very pleased to see it back on the shelves again. Best sunblock ever, I used 50 UVA. I wonder if its the astaZANTHIN ingredient in it that mad it so good?
I found an old green empty bottle of Ski & Sea a few weeks ago while cleaning up our shoreline..after Storm Irene. Can’t say I rmbr the smell, but it certainly brought back memories of being on the beach as a kid in the late 70’s. I saved the bottle ofcourse.
I wasn’t born until 82 but I have EXTREMELY sensitive skin. Not only to the sun but chemicals. I discovered sea and ski sport about 16 years ago. It was and still is the ONLY product that works for me. Other lotions cause.a reaction to my skin and I get red and a horrible burning sensation. When we started noticing it.not.on the shelves I went.on eBay and bought 20 bottles of it. They are expired now but I keep them in my fridge in an effort to keep them a little longer. My best friend even has a stock pile for me too. I’m still looking for a replacement but nothing! I recently had a daughter and she seems to have my same sensitive skin. We need this product back!!!!
I want my Sea & Ski. Please bring it back. I look every year in every place. PLEASE . . I want myh Sea & Ski again!!!!
I’m with Marianne, I LOVE the smell. I found a tube of Sea & Ski at a little convenience store at South Lake Tahoe in 2007, it still had the same smell but it was not as strong.
Gina-Marie I live close to where your grandfather lived, I’m in Redwood City.
Hi Everyone, I am the grand-daugter of Charles Rolley. I can’t believe after all these years my grandfathers’ sun tan lotion is still on the market. It brings back so many good memories, yes it was an excellent suntan lotion. I remember my Dad Irwin Rolley had boxes of sun tan lotion at home; he used to bath me in lotion to protect me from the sun, those days at the beach, Coyote Beach in San Francisco, California.
My grandfather lived in Atherton, Calif. He was great!! Yes, I remember there were different colors and presentations to the bottle. It was too bad he didn’t keep the company. I hope this product stays for a very long time in memory to my beloved grandfather.
….Oh yes Joel it was great to see a comment from a family member,you were a baby the last time I saw you. Send My love to the family. Your aunt all the way from Costa Rica….Gina-Marie.
Sea & Ski keep the legacy alive….. Any further info about C.A Rolley and Sea & Ski please write back……
The all day spf 30 foam was the very best, never to be duplicated. Have searched every website but to no avail. Never burned after spending 5 hours in the Maui sun. Wish someone was listening to us!!
I beg of who ever is in control to please please bring it back. My dermatologist recommends it. I was able to find some on line a few years ago and bought all they had. We are a family that sails all year long and ski races competitively. Nothing else compares seriously.
Sea & Ski is now owned by the Stephan Company, a firm that buys up old brands, sells the remaining dead stock and discontinues brands. Just at what they’ve done to Frances Denney!
sea @ ski lip balm kicks @ss ,where are you.
Okay, so how do we reproduce it? Are all you folks willing to chip in seed money to buy the formula? Who owns the patent, trademark on Sea & Ski? Hey, I’m willing to invest! Best darned scent of ANY suntan product on the market then and now.
Sea & Ski was the BEST suntan lotion ever!! It came in various levels of protection, and one could graduate down in spf as you increased your base! It was a quality product, and the great fragrance was a bonus! Or, you could choose fragrance free, the product was excellent!! Would love to have it back!! Miss it so much! Just finished my last bottle!! Hopefully, somone will bring it back…in its original formula, with or without fragrance!!
Sea & Ski is the BEST Smelling suntan lotion EVER!!! Memories of going to the beach as a kid. If it came back I would buy it in a heartbeat. LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT!
PLEASE bring back Sea & Ski. It is the best
I love the mousse I had a few years back. I did find some in panama city at nothing over a dollar but it expired in 2006. Sure wish they would bring it back because I never got burned with the mousse.
Bring Sea & Ski back. I love it and so does my 16 yr old granddaughter Used it all the time in Fla. Found some at the beaches in Tx. to, until last year.
I got into Sea N’ Ski in the late 80’s when they came out with the “waterproof” version and that is what I REALLY liked because it was such a clear, light, dry lotion (if that’s what you’d call it) totally non-greasy, fairly sweatproof and very affordable. It was simply a clear bottle with a blue cap and lettering, nothing outstanding about the fragrance, but loved it as was. Bring er’ back!
Sea & Ski, Where have you gone? Not only was your sent uplifting you were amazing. I really need you now where can I find you? The other brands are just not the same no matter how hard they try they just can’t com pair with you. Now is the time to make your come back. I know you’ll clear the shelves and be the #1 that you already are.
We have been looking for Sea and Ski for years. Bring it back — if you put it on a WalMart shelf or another nationwide discount store, it would soar to the top again. I miss the smell the most. It smells so clean, you just know it is doing a good job on your skin. You are missing the boat; you can’t sit on it until everyone that loved it is dead. We want our children and grand children to use it.
Wow, what memories of that wonderful smell. My mom use to take us to Ocean City, Md. to the beach and that was all that we used. I associate that smell with my memories of a child in the sand building sand castles. I try telling my daughter about it but now I will try the candle and see if it helps to convey the memory. Always had a great tan too!
You can get the smell at Yankee Candle. It’s called “Sun & Sand.”
So good to smell it again! My very early childhood– it was part of our lives–my sisters and parents in Nantucket.
Like everyone else I just remember that distinctive wonderful smell. Trying to find some. Did not know you could no longer buy it. What a shame.
Outstanding summers on Clear Lake, on the water and in the water is where you could find us. It is also where you found Sea & Ski. Its protection was No.1., always.
It is the one thing I associate with outstanding summers on Clear Lake. Its protection was No.1. I can’t remember any of us, and there were quite a few, ever getting a sun burn. We spent hours in the water and on the water. You could always find a bottle in the tackle box, or in the console of the boat.
My high school summers (’66-’70) were spent in San Diego – particularly Ocean Beach. We were from Phoenix and loved the dark tanning oil combined with the Sea and Ski “Girl Watchers” wrap-around sunglasses! man we thought we were cool!! hahahaha I’m still trying to find some of those sunglasses to purchase for nostalgia. Sea and Ski was always stocked in my house when we lived in Phoenix, wish it would come back … along with those sunglasses!! 🙂
I was surprised to see people comment on Sea and Ski, particularly the scent. My great granfather was Charles Rolley, his father was a barber and Grandpa Charlie would play with the fragrances. I still have a bottle that says Rolley Co. on it, (I don’t think I would use it now, but for sentimental purposes). Thanks for the kind words.
Joel Charles Rolley
LCDR USN
Have been looking for Sea & Ski forever. Found some at a marina in Las Vegas a couple of years ago. Should have bought it all. We should get together and contact the Faulding Healthcare people and see if we cannot get them to resurrect this product. The smell alone would be worth the trouble. It is the scent of my youth. Someone could make a fortune.
Find some at
http://www.foresterbarsandchain.com/commerce/product.jsp?catId=691&prodId=543
1-800-472-7600 to order!
I just went on EBAY…and bought the last bottle for 5 bucks…shipped to me..a dark tanning oil by Sea and Ski today 11/21/10. Shop around ya might find some….more…Kim
I bought some from a SUNWARE store in Ft Lauderdale in 2006 or 7? I think I saw some in a store in 2009 in Ft Lauderdale…down the street from the Pelican Grande Beach resort. I hope they bring it back…the scent was unique to the brand…I reminded me of the beach…memories. BRING IT BACK? CAn we get it somewhere yet?…Kimber
On vacation, I found some left over tubes of SPF 30 lip balm in an outlet store and bought a handful. Since then, I have found nothing to replace them that works as good or as long as Sea & Ski brand. Would love to find some more. Would love to see the brand come back for some of their other products as well. (I remember my first aloe cooling application after the beach)
Sea & Ski suntan lotion was always my favorite! I loved its green plastic container with the orance cap and red lettering. The lotion, itself, was a pretty shade of green. On the Atlantic City boardwalk, I always loved the neon billboard sign thet depicted the lotion coming out of the green container. It sure looked beautiful when illuminated at night! I REALLY WISH that this product would return to the shelves! Does anybody know where I can purchase a nostalgic plastic green Sea & Ski bottle??????????
Sea & Ski, Coppoertone, and Bain de Soleil, the 3 suntan lotions I can remember as a kid, and I really miss Sea & Ski!
Yes, bring back the original Sea & Ski. I used to vacation in Avalon, NJ and StoneHarbor, NJ. When I was a child, I remember that green bottle. Wasn’t there orange on there too? And the writing was in white?
And oh, the smell, yes, it was wonderful. I would remember it if I had the bottle in my hands.
Like the original Tretorn sneakers I wore (which they don’t manufacture LIKE the originals) I miss the quality, classics.
The contact info for the manufacturer is above. Has anyone called?
I agree wholeheartedly!!!!! If Pathfinder Management has any interest in making money, they could easily make a fortune putting the exact green product back on the shelves. When it began to disappear I felt so helpless!!!!! WHY!!!!!
There are very few products that I buy consistently; Sea & Ski was one of them. Bring it back!!!!!!!!
Not only was the tanning lotion great, but I kept buying the lime flovored lip protector until it dissapeared from the shelves! We need this product back, and soon!!
I live in Barrie, Ontario canada L4N 9M1 and I am looking for Sea & Ski Sunless Tanning Lotion. I found some in the Canadian Tire store in Barrie and bought 8 tubes of it. I told all my friends about it and love it. We are all down to our last of it. Where can I purchase it in Barrie?
Thanking you for your time and prompt response.
There is and nothing so far that even comes close . the smell , the protection and to put it on after to stop or soothe a sunburn . PLEASE bring it back
I had forgotten all about this until I bought Avon’s Face Perfector – as soon as I smelled the AFP I was immediately transported to summer on the beach 40 years ago. Couldn’t figure it out but just wanted inhale the stuff all day! Sea N Ski popped into my head and I’m with you all here that want to find it. I don’t even care how good it is for sun protection – I’d use it for aromatherapy!
I used the oil in the brown bottle, the baby oil scent, and the green bottle. I think about it so often and really do miss it!
Can’t find it anywhere!! Oh the smell… NO ONE can duplicate it. It always brings such greatt memories to mind. BRING IT BACK…. PRETTY PLEASE!!!
kathy ruvolo. I’m from Myrtle beach and have looked everywhere for the face foam stuff made by them. You don’t happen to remember what store it was where you found it do you??? Please let me know!! that would be so awesome! thanks!!!
Hi Ginny… here we are, 9 years later and I just ran across your message. I don’t remember the name of the store. It was a gift shop though. You can find it on Amazon now…
The official site doesn’t load, but utilizing the “cached” feature on Google, I did get some contact info:
Radiant Technologies, Inc.
145 Elm Hill Pike
Nashville,TN US 37210
emartinez@pathfinder-management.com
+1.6158721700
Pathfinder maintains a website:
http://www.pathfinder-management.com/SeaSki.php
By the way, the two bottles of Sea and Ski I purchased expired in 2007!!!
I found Sea and Ski sunscreen at a small shop while traveling in Myrtle Beach S.C. I live in California and was so excited to find this again! Bring it back – I think people who grew up in the 1960’s and 1970’s would be thrilled to see this on the shelves!!
My family moved to Sarasota, Florida, in 1951 and Sea and Ski was the favored lotion for us teenagers. Coppertone had a strange smell and was not as popular.
If I had not read about its green packaging here, though, I would have sworn it was red and white. Am I losing it?
I had a bottle that was brown with white lettering.
I recall seeing the updated Sea and Ski product at a local drugstore a few years back. I was first struck by the packaging which was very different. I frantically opened every tube of lotion on the shelf and noted the fragrance. I anticipated being swept inside a personal time machine…but nostalgia suddenly flatlined. No Sea-gar. “When nothing else subsists from the past, after the people are dead, after the things are broken and scattered· the smell and taste of things remain poised a long time, like souls· bearing resiliently, on tiny and almost impalpable drops of their essence, the immense edifice of memory” -“The Remembrance of Things Past” Marcel Proust
Our reader tells us that it can be found on Amazon, though difficult to locate elsewhere. For you Sea & Ski fans, good luck!
The stuff worked! Remember iodine & baby oil as tanning agent? That stupid homebrew is what I brought to my first college summer job at the beach. Luckily, a friend soon asked me to slather suntan lotion on her back. Next day, I suffered the kind of burn you’d expect after using frying oil for skin–a/k/a iodine & baby oil–except for mysterious, nicely tanned irregular splotches on my thighs … where I’d wiped my friend’s Sea ‘n’ Ski off my palms. Given the small fortune I lavished on Sea ‘n’ Ski ever after it’s hard to accept the commercial failure. Great products. Eventually, with less leisure for fun in the sun, I switched to Sea ‘n’ Ski tan-in-a-tube–equally up to its task. Dammit.
Love the sea and ski for faces – has this stuff in it – astazathin – great! Please make more!
Sea and Ski had a very unique fragrance. If blindfolded, I could pick it out of all today’s suntan lotions. Till this day when I think of Sea and Ski I think of going to the shore in my earlier years as a child. I wish they would bring this product back with the original green packaging. Properly marketed, nostalgia can be very profitable.
Omg! Me too! I miss that smell and always wish someone, somewhere had it!
Hi Brady and Everyone!! Great News!!!
SEA&SKI Suncare Products has a new owner!!!
Cross Brands Contract Filling in Rockledge Florida owns the SEA&SKI brand and manufactures SEA&SKI in it’s facility in Florida. (check out the video)
Yes several of the SEA&SKI items do have the original scent that eveyone loves.
Check our web-site http://www.seanski.com
Also available now on Amazon and Walmart.com
CROSS-BRANDS Manufacturing facility: Video https://youtu.be/XQVZzf1C-vA
Thank you!!
Kind Regards,
Jim Mercer Chief Operating Officer
http://www.Cross-Brands.com and http://www.seanski.com
dba Sea & Ski Suncare Products
1938 Murrell Road
Rockledge, FL 32955
The seanski website isn’t working.