Jimmy Stewart looked like someone's grandpa
He was 46 or 47 in real life but he looked older and of course I couldn't believe the character was playing professional baseball.
He was 46 or 47 in real life but he looked older and of course I couldn't believe the character was playing professional baseball.
Forty-somethings from fifty years ago looked like today's fifty-somethings.
The average 30-year-old from the 1920s looks like today's average 50-year-old. Look at a photo of baseball player Ty Cobb in his prime. He looks like an old man.
Fifty+ years ago...people in their late forties most likely were grandparents.
Today's people have the advantage of spending most of their lives in comfortable climate-controlled environments. Today, people actually avoid exposure to the sun, harsh chemicals, etc. Decades ago, people did not even consider avoiding such things. share
IMO the biggest change is the widespread prevalence of cigarette smoke before about the 1970s. Even if you didn't smoke yourself, you were probably exposed to cigarrette smoke for several hours every day.
Look at any number of photos from the 1950s and now -- people of comparable ages looked MUCH older back then. The boundary line between 'middle aged' and 'elderly' used to be about 55 -- now it's 65 or older.
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4) You ever seen Superman $#$# his pants? Case closed.