‘C’ is for Climate: How the force that built Arizona’s ‘sunshiny’ frontier turned deadly
- In the early 1900s, maximum recorded temperatures in Arizona hovered around 112 degrees, with clean air that drew people with health issues to the state.
- Climate-focused marketing campaigns promised dry, pure air and a ‘more exuberant’ life in Arizona’s sunshine and mild temperatures. It worked and health seekers started moving West in droves.
- Now, more than a century after statehood, Arizona’s warming climate may pose more health risks than solutions, leaving many residents questioning its future livability.
In 1960, a newspaper article published in the Tucson Citizen offered “zippy girls” an opportunity to help advertise Arizona’s climate to the world.
Bob Riddell, publicity manager for the Tucson Sunshine Climate Club, told the reporter he sought “cheesecakey” applicants with “nice teeth, a lovely smile, expressive eyes, beautiful hair, a fresh complexion.” They must be younger than 24, the article specified, weigh about 115 lbs and “have those pounds distributed in an approximate 36-24-36 over a 5-foot-6 frame.”
They must also have “enough Zip to make Indiana want to pack up and skip right on out here to Tucson,” the article specified.
“Tucson of the sunshiny climate.”