Did people used to look older?
“After looking at old photo albums or browsing photos online, many young people believe that people who were their age 40, 50, or 60 years ago looked much older and more mature than they do today. This internet phenomenon is known as ‘retrospective ageing’. Below we break down which of our expectations were true, false or just misleading illusions made by hairstyles and fashion.
In short, yes, people did look older years ago as people had very different lifestyles and habits like smoking, diet and exposure to the sun (mainly the use of suncream).
Researchers from Yale University researched people’s ‘biological age’. They took measurements of people’s cholesterol levels, blood pressure, lung capacity, and the number of different molecules . There was a significant difference in the biological age of the participants who were 20 in 1988 and 1994, with men losing a whole biological year! Participants aged 60 lost the largest amount with men shedding more than 4 years’ worth of ageing, making 60 years old in 1988 – the biological 56 in 1994!
One of the main habits before that made people look older was smoking. In 1965, half of Americans said that they smoke, compared around 15% in 2020. Smoking in large amounts can lead to wrinkled and grey ‘Cigarette Skin’, smaller amounts of blood flow and irritation of the eyes. A teacher at The Beacon School confirms this and quotes “many people smoked in buses, planes” and “in public spaces”.
When looking at old photos and albums people often think that teenagers back in the day looked older because of outfits and hairstyles. Above is an example of one of these hairstyles, the 34-year-old George Went looks much older than he actually is. Part of this is his hair as when it is replaced by a more modern hairstyle, he looks much younger.
There is also an interesting example of fashion boosting the same thoughts. Dale Irby, a well-known Primary school PE teacher had his yearbook photo in the same outfit for 40 years. The outfit looked modern and fashionable in 1973 but already looked old – fashioned in 2013. People relate his clothes in 2013 to grandparents’ clothes and when they see him when he was young – they think he is much older.
Although people in the 1950s 60s and 70s may not look unhealthy or ‘too’ old, they looked different from us now. People in this day and age do eat differently and work fewer hours in less physical jobs like in offices. Because of easy access to healthy recipes online and a variety of ingredients in shops due to the internet, people can have a healthy varied diet.
So, in conclusion, people looking older back then is part fact and fiction. The feeling is boosted by actual differences in appearance, fashion and hairstyles!
Reported by Oleg V