Scuba-Diver Chic in the 1960's by Gene Gable

I was sufring around the net and found this article, I thought I'd share.

By 1950, Aqua Lungs were being sold in the United States and, despite an image of being somewhat dangerous, were catching on quickly. Skin Diver Magazine first came out in 1951, a good indication that the market was growing and had potential for more mainstream adoption. (The links go to Diving History.com where you can read the entire first issue.)

The image of scuba divers was hardly what you would call "sexy" until 1955, when the Howard Hughes movie Underwater Fury starring a busty Jane Russell premiered.

Largely an excuse to show Russell in a wet bathing suit -- a stunt double did all the underwater scenes -- the movie nonetheless opened the sport to women.

Hollywood soon took notice, and movies featuring underwater action began appearing, like Manfish in 1956.

The imagery of scuba diving got a big boost from 1958 to 1961, when the weekly TV show "Sea Hunt" had its popular run.Bridges became the first celebrity spokesman for the new sport of scuba diving and even scored an endorsement deal with equipment manufacturer AMF Voit, as shown in the 1960 ad below.

Images of scuba divers began popping up in mainstream media, and underwater adventure took off as a theme for comic books and magazines, like these from 1960 and 1961.

Then in 1965, Sean Connery appeared in the James Bond movie Thunderball, proving that you could scuba dive while keeping your good looks and dignity intact.

Equipment manufacturerVoit again worked out an endorsement deal, and a line of 007 dive gear was marketed for many years.

In the '60s, commercial advertisers became crazy about scuba diving, especially car manufacturers, who delighted in showing their new models parked near the shore while the owners readied themselves for underwater adventure.

Eventually scuba divers found their way into almost every sort of product advertising, including, as seen below, cigarette and liquor ads -- products that are hardly compatible with the sport.

Everyone started getting into the underwater act,

and the scuba diving industry tried its best to project an "anyone can do it" image.

Apparently airport security was a little less strict back then.

Somewhere in the 1970s, most advertisers stopped using scuba divers to promote their products, and the sport took on a rather nerdy image, which it still suffers from today. It's unlikely that little boys want to grow up to be Mike Nelson anymore.