California always felt like home even though I never lived there. The Golden State has always been a state of mind.
More than any other place, the winterless wonderland that is Southern California called out to me ever since I was a child. As a sun worshipper from the time I was a beachcomber tot, the idea of year-round sunshine and abundant beaches was irresistible. Even Barbie moved to Malibu. The fashion doll was forever changed when she made that trip up the Pacific Coast Highway and emerged as Malibu Barbie with a golden tan and long blond hair
By the summer of 1965, The Beach Boys vocalized what I felt. Swimming in the turquoise pool of my suburban day camp, I envisioned myself surfing in the Pacific as their song would play like a loop through my head.
Yeah, East Coast girls were hip, and who didn’t dig those styles they wore? But this New Yorker wished she could be a California girl.
As the snow pelted down in a blustery Nor’Easter that December, it didn’t take much for me to be California Dreamin’ along with the Mamas and Papas.
California was long the stuff of fantasies Now this magical place that consumed me as a child, is consumed in flames. An apocalyptic nightmare roaring through my youthful dreamscape.
You’re young, You’re fun, You’re California
In the 1960’s California style was distilled, marketed, and ingrained in my youthful consciousness through movies, music, and the pages of magazines. California was “where it’s at.”
A lemon-lime bubbling bottle of pop-culture fun, fun, fun.
The sun always shone and no one ever seemed to be old in Southern California. It was a place for the young, the beautiful and tanned. A glossy paradise of sun-kissed youth racing towards the sparkling surf. Their obligatory bleached blonde hair and fit bronzed bodies infused with atomic energy were decked out in hot pink and tangerine Kandy Colored California fashion with names like Hang Ten..
California seemed to personify the sunny optimism of our country.
Mid-century America was on the move and so were its citizens. An enduring symbol of the possibility of transformation, restless Americans moved to California in droves, streaming into the state via Route 66. By 1962 California surpassed New York as the most populous state.
In a time of EZ living, no fuss and no muss, the informal living style of California was appealing.
Who didn’t dream of a palm-shaded “pad” with a blue stone patio and built-in barbecue? A modern Joseph Ehril ranch house with indoor-outdoor living and your own turquoise pool. Kandy Kolored metallic painted hot rods and gleaming convertibles speeding down its freeways, pulling into In and Out drive-throughs, and parking in space-age drive-in movies.
Sure we could pick a sour McIntosh apple from our New York suburban trees but the thought of plucking a sunny lemon or orange from your own backyard seemed so exotic.
Malibu Barbie, the quintessential California girl
Even Barbie headed west moving from Willows to Wisconsin building her dream house in Malibu in 1971.
Barbie got a brand new California makeover. She sported the quintessential California surfer girl vibe with her eternally tanned skin, blue eyes and platinum blonde hair. For the first time, she featured an open smile and her previous sideways glance was updated to forward-looking eyes. Her lashes were painted on and she has soft coral lips. Malibu Barbie was ready for the surf in her powder blue swimsuit, lavender goggle glasses on top of her head and a yellow beach towel.
The West Coast Has the Sunshine and the Girls All Get So Tan
The easiest way to channel California for me as a teen was to get a deep dark California tan, even if it was from a paltry East Coast sun. Fueling my fantasies were the Coppertone ads. Nothing flattered you like a tan and who didn’t want to look Tanfastic? Max Factor created California bronze tan for a deep dark wherever you are.
Once upon a time, a deep dark tan was the gold standard of a successful summer run.
When it came to getting a gold medal for the best bronze, I was always a winner.
I came from a generation where backyard grilling meant more than barbecuing a steak. The suburbs were always sizzling with teenagers char broiling in their yards in an attempt to achieve a golden California tan.
California is a Beautiful State To Be
The California Look was one everyone wanted and cosmetic companies jumped on the bandwagon.
Who better to offer the “California look” than Max Factor Hollywood’s original makeup artist to the stars.
The sunlit look so desired could only have been conceived in California
Max Factor reinforced That California is a beautiful state to Be in with the emphasis on youth.
Go Way Out for California (while you’re young enough to dare)
California Girl
Clairol came out with the “California Girl” line of beauty products with the ultimate California girl Cheryl Teigs as the model.
“This is the Look of the California Girl. Skin that never had a worry in the world. A Mouth that just ate a peach. No makeup and no hang ups. Come claim the look of sunshine and sea wind real orange juice and 6AM on the beach. Its for you. Come love it.