We’ve all heard that “black don’t crack” and “Asian no raisin,” but celebrities like Jennifer Aniston, Halle Berry, Demi Moore, Jennifer Lopez, and Sandra Bullock – who are all gorgeous ladies in their 50’s – prove that anyone of any ethnicity can look younger when they’re older.
But, as amazing as these women look, former pro baseball pitcher Brandon McCarthy came up with a theory that this wasn’t always the case.
“This is nonsense but did people in the past look older when they were younger?”
After he threw this curve ball of a question to his fans on Twitter, everyone started hitting home runs with their incredible responses! And yes, these 40 photos they tweeted prove that people from the past used to age faster than they do now.
1) “My grandmother was only in her mid-50’s in this pic. My dad was 26.”
@KevinKlussier:
“Look at any high school yearbook from the ‘50s. The seniors look like they have a middle management position, two kids, and a mortgage.”
2) “Ritchie Valens was 17 when he died in a plane crash.”
@bho27:
“He looks like papa John after eating 40 pizzas in 30 days.”
3) “Buddy Holly was 22 Big Bopper 28”
@TonySoSuave:
“Buddy Holly actually looked his age. The Big Bopper looked like he had been working at the only [gas] station in town for 20+ years.”
4) “These are my parents when my mom was pregnant with me. They were like 23.”
@MaineRuss:
“Your mom looks 23 and your dad looks like her dad.”
@ToddlersWild:
“I don’t think your Dad was telling you the truth about his age :) He is the baldest 23 year old I have ever seen.”
5) “Sparky Anderson: Age 42”
@Dickbuffman213:
“Yup. 1976 All-Star Game. Born in ’34.”
@donmccormick:
“Baseball players all lived their lives in direct sunlight every day, and sunblock had not been invented.”
6) “Jim Morrison has some hard 27 years on him”
@CarlosG3414:
“Jim also drank enough for five alcoholics. when he was 21 he looked great.”
7) “John Ratzenberger played Cliff Clavin between the ages of 35-47”
@StatelyWayneMnr:
“You should have started that sentence with ‘you know it’s a well known fact…'”
8) “George Wendt was THIRTY THREE in the first season of Cheers.”
@Christine23789:
“I think it’s their clothing and hairstyles that really ages them.”
9) “Kelsey Grammar was 29!!!!!”
@PoliticalBrianL:
“It’s not the hairline as much as the demeanor and affect, he seemed like a man of 40 at the time at least.”
10) Archie Bunker & Brad Pitt at nearly the same age
@stefanielaine:
“I mean, a big part of this is that stars today are a lot richer, skin care and fashion especially for rich people have both improved dramatically, but DAAAAAAMN”
@RhoniDu:
“Men at that time weren’t fashion divas and weren’t going To spas and doing Mani and pedicures.”
11) “Wilford Brimley was 50 in Cocoon. Tom Cruise was 56 in the latest Mission Impossible.”
@unsettlingstory:
“Wilford Brimley has been 82 years old for my entire 38 years of existence.”
@dopplegangbangr:
“I think he used the cocoon to keep himself this young.”
12) “Hank Williams had dozens of country hits and died at 29. I was shocked he wasn’t much older.”
@KentFaulker4:
“Well….. his liver WAS 102 years old, though.”
13) “The Rock looked older in high school than he does right now.”
@WalterMacambria:
“Kids from his classroom used to think he was an undercover cop. True history he shared on his Instagram account.”
@LJDinMN:
“This is not The Rock. This is a veteran police detective.”
@travelswbrindle:
“I would buy insurance from this man.”
14) “This is my parents aged 35 in 1960 or so, the glasses, hair styles and my father’s clothes are dated but I don’t think they look like the older parents that they were.”
@Christine23789:
“People also did work a lot harder back then.”
@Genie2:
“Ah…those were the days when folk just let nature take its course! Now, we fight nature at every turn.”
15) “1969. Sir Bobby Charlton was *32*.”
@GringoStarr64:
“Good god life was hard!”
@JxShepphard:
“TIL a photograph could smell like whiskey.”
16) “This beats Ray Nitschke aged 29 as the most amazing one yet”
@maguirenumer6:
“That guys age is on his shirt.”
@jghuntlaw:
“He grew up in a tough area.”
17) “We call this age anomaly “The Jim Croce.” This is a man who died at 30!”
@MattTimeMan:
“Mustaches and cigarettes are like the real version of that tool they use to age up pictures of missing persons.”
18) “Freddie Prinze Sr. Dead at 22”
19) “Ralph Macchio is about the same age now that Pat Morita was at the time of The Karate Kid.”
@WillCrain2:
“Morita was about 52 when the Karate Kid came out. Macchio is 58 now.”
@ArreolaPatrick:
“Ralph made a pact with de Debbil….”
20) “Yes , just look at Mary Tyler Moore cast as proof”
Front row: Gavin McCloud (39), Mary Tyler Moore (33), Ted Knight (46)
Back row: Valerie Harper (30), Ed Asner (40), Cloris Leachman (44).
@d_a_keldson:
“Hair dye was much less commonplace. Many people you see around you today are grey or greying, you just don’t know it. Sun exposure, also. My grandfather was a farmer, and his face was very weather beaten. His back was like a baby’s skin, under his shirt and undershirt.”
21) “Lee Marvin was 42 when he was in The Dirty Dozen.”
@craigdegel:
“42-year-old Lee Marvin had seen some sh!t.”
22) “This is former NHL/WHA hockey player George “Duke” Harris. Born in 1942, he was 31 when this pic was taken.”
@mufferaw:
“This is the best one, hands down. Imagine him chasing you into the corner!”
23) “This was the late John Tenta AKA WWF’s Earthquake at age 26.”
@ijayt205:
“It had to be their diet because [wtf]?”
@SupaPFunk:
“His skin looks pretty good actually. The rest… Rough.”
@Sedmach:
“That tattoo looks way older than 26.”
24) “I’d like to take this opportunity to point out Nigel Farage and Keanu Reeves are the same damn age.”
@S1mon3t:
“Problematic people age like milk. Staying moisturized, hydrated, and minding yo damn business is the Fountain of Youth.”
@squidlimerick:
“All that hate ages people.”
25) “Liz Taylor is 17 here. She is stunning as always but could be in her mid to late 20s”
@Almijisti:
“And she was literally a mutant: genetic condition gave her a double row of eyelashes and eyes that appeared violet. Her remarkable beauty was also a curse, and led many to unfairly overlook her truly great acting skills. One of the most beautiful women in modern history.”
26) “Here’s my dad, in 1970ish, at 21.”
@lewmoore:
“Amazing! Looks 41, at least.”
@ChrisHowdy:
“Nobody used moisturizer and every public space was full of cigarette smoke. Kinda makes sense.”
27) “Mine’s not as amazing as many here but here’s my dad and I at Nixon’s inauguration parade in ’73. My dad was 45. People thought he was my grandfather all the time.”
@intentionalkiwi:
“This is what people are meant to look like in their 30s and 40s. We’re obsessed with youth so looking your age is bad.”
@DTMattSmith:
“Cigarettes and cheap booze aged a lot of young people back then.”
28) “She was 32 when this photo was taken. Then again, the Great Depression can do that to you.”
29) “1987. Ron Karkovice was 24 years old.”
@CerowB:
“To be honest, I feel like using Karkovice on this is cheating. He was born smelling of cigarettes.”
@TheCheekyGinger:
“This man must have smoked three packs a day in kindergarten.”
30) “Larry Bird (pictured age 25-30 probably)”
@_JVera:
“…looked like he ran his own plumbing business for 30 years and played basketball at the local gym in the evenings to stay young and active.”
31) “Walter Cronkite at age 43 in 1960. He was only 6 months older than JFK.”
@bicartwright:
“I was a kid then and always though Cronkite was in his 60’s, then was amazed he was still alive 40 years later!”
32) “Marilyn Monroe….at 16!!!!!”
33) “Arn Anderson looked like he was 48 years old 20 years before he was 48 years old.”
34) “Martin : 42 and Candy : 37 when this came out…I’m 43 and I feel like they look waaaay older than me!”
35) “This is hockey’s Gump Worsley. Born in 1929, this is a picture of him with the Montreal Canadiens.”
@donnelly612:
“If I had to worry about taking a slap shot to the face every night I’d probably have a few more stress lines. But I think Gump enjoyed a cold beverage and a heater or two back then.”
36) “Otis Nixon was 36 here”
@CayleHunter:
“This is more of a commentary on amphetamines than age.”
@wylde4canes:
“Otis Nixon came out the womb lookin 63.”
37) “I dunno, my mom is 19 in this picture from 1967.”
@BenHagueComedy:
“Beautiful lady but if you said 35, 2 kids and a full time job I wouldn’t bat an eye.”
38) “Not sure of the exact ages but these beauties were mere GIRLS when they were on TV in the 80s.”
39) “Soccer players in the 70s looked super old. This is one of the stars of the 1974 World Cup, Grzegorz Lato. He was 24 years old at the time.”
@CogitoErgoJokes:
“Yeah dude people in the past smoked everywhere all the time, didn’t wear sunscreen, didn’t moisturize, didn’t hydrate, didn’t do Pilates, didn’t ritually drink the blood of infants. Etc.”
40) “Keith Moon passed away at 32.”
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