Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
In a way, they really were older. I think the Life Expectency age was only about 70. They didn't grow up on children's vitamins, and grocery stores didn't have as much fresh fruit and vegetables all year long. I just don't think that people were in the habit of eating as much.
This was before anti-biotics. Even minor illness could take a toll.
The WHO (World Health Organization) ran surveys and found that heavy smokers are actually more obese than nonsmokers. Research has also shown that smoking 4 cigarettes increases a persons EE (energy expenditure) by only about 3.3%.
Someone who smoked four cigarettes a day would be a nonsmoker by 1950s standards.
Back in the 1950s doctors told their patients to smoke in order to lose weight.
I don't believe the results of that WHO study, but if it was done recently it is altered by the fact that smoking in the USA and in countries with similar cultures is heavily on the decline among the "one percent". Said "one percent" are the group least likely to be obese. In the 1950s, all socioeconomic groups smoked.
In the 1950s amphetamine diet pills were widely available over the counter and were widely used by teenagers and adults alike. Those may have also contributed to young people "looking older".
In a way, they really were older. I think the Life Expectency age was only about 70. They didn't grow up on children's vitamins, and grocery stores didn't have as much fresh fruit and vegetables all year long. I just don't think that people were in the habit of eating as much.
People ate as much, but it was meat and starches. Maybe all those potatoes or noodles contributed to the middle-aged look.
Remember teenager clothes weren't invented in the 50's, late 50's we started to get a bit of style and created our own look ,unlike the cloned teens today, they all look the same to me. To some people on here we might have looked old but we certainly didn't feel old. I had a very happy teen life as i'm sure most of us did without a heap of pressure like today.I might add also that i don't feel old now just look different,thats all.
The suits came with one exception = WHITE BUCKSshoes.
Talk about girls hair, boys hair was just 2 choices = Crew Cut or Flat Top.
Tough girls wore the boufont and we just knew they had spider webs inside.
The plus was that we owned HOT RODS the greatest invention ever made with the exception of drive-in movies, malt shops, and drive-in diners with girls serving greasy burgers wearing roller skates.
LOL You had to have SOME form of experssion. I was a wee one in the 50's but remember the cars that looked like they were ready to take off in space in the 60's and of course, the Mustang... I am kinda glad that I had already said no to dressup by the time I got to be a teen. But my mom dressed me in frilly dresses all elementary school and I vowed never to dress frilly again as Jr.Hi dawned.
The kids back then didn't look old. They just looked more like their parents than kids do today.
Until the baby boomers, every generation of teens looked and dressed more similarly to adults, even though there were teen fashions. This was due to the fashion industries' focus on adults as the designer's largest target.
By the 60's, the affluence of teens created a great change in the fashion industry, and the situation reversed- the fashion industry began following teen fads and fashions, because that was where the most money was. This, in large part, is why we all wear bluejeans so commonly now.
When you have 20 more years on you, you'll understand. Your grandchildren will think you looked old when you were a kid, too. Teens of the future may not have the money for fashion you have, and they may end up looking more like your parents than you.
ne interesting thing I picked up long ago is: Most people tend to prefer the clothing and hairstyles that were fashionable when they were 18 for most of their lives. They also prefer the music they listened to when they were 18 as well.
I agree that the fashion industry recogized a market. It was probably there all along but parents weren't willing or able to fork over the money to follow fads. The first real fad I remember in the early 60's was really long, loose sweaters. We didn't spend anything on them, just raided Dad's sweaters. I think if teens don't have the money to go out and buy the comercialized teen trends, they'll figure out how to do it without that. You see these new 'MOD' looks every so often? Thing is, the are wrong. The mod look I wore was put together from what you had or could scrounge. We wore nylons to school, so the fishnets were just the same and buying plain ones. I know today parents who buy the gotta be fashionable and trendy train spend a lot on keeping the kids in style, but I don't recall spending a lot of extra. And you could make a miniskirt out of a yard of material with a vest.
That is an interesting observation. I was thinking more like fifteen. Except for music I hadn't heard much of, I fit. Mom never turned off the raido and I grew up to Sinatra and jazz and swing music and still love it too. But too bad I just don't feel quite right with mini's anymore. Though I certaninly have the body for one I haven't worn skirts for so long its a challenge to sit in one for long without reverting to pants casual legs.
I look at pictures of high schoolers from the 50's, and they look like old people to me. Maybe women's hairstyles were all short back then and this is the main reason why. It's sad how little in common their generation has with the young people of today. I think the teens of today will never really get old, and the baby boomers were the generation that thought they were the first "cool" generation, but now a lot of them seem old anyway.
My theory is that it's like dogs/puppies.
Adult wolves don't act like dogs. We have bred our dogs to act more like adolescent and puppy wolves. So they are more playful, loyal, etc.
I think that the people today look younger than the people back then because they are also not growing up as fast. They take on less responsibility and don't have as hard a life.
100 years ago, a 14 year old would know how to run an entire farm.
Today, our 24 year-olds can barely manage their own finances.
I think it's a combination of our 2012 eyes looking at those outdated clothing and hairstyles and determining they look "old fashioned." Also the teen girls were basically wearing the same clothing styles as their moms, simple, basic looks LOL.
I disagree with this. Middle-aged and older women back then didn't exercise at all. People controlled their weight by being perpetually on a diet, but they had no muscle tone and were flabby. I weigh more than my mother, due to greater muscle mass, but I'm a size or two smaller. If we take average people, they're more fit today. I tend to put obesity well outside the average, though I guess these days it's really skewing the statistics as to what truly is "average" in the US.
That true with women then. I saw an interview with a producer of this movie set in the 50's. His biggest problem was extras and small roles where the women did not look as if they had muscles. Women in the fifties prized the thin, undeveloped look (left over from the 30's and before where well off women didn't get them and poor women did). Today most women do sufficnt lifting of things that at least the arms show. Older women always wore sleeves to cover the flabby arms.
I think one small difference was backpacks. You hold it with your shoulder and all kids use them now, especially when you get to jr hi and high school, and the load is heavier in college. It developed the upper body without especially trying to.
I remember when airlines had to change the standard of weight to 'fits in the uniform' since they had even already working flight attendants who weighed too much but fit the uniform fine. A flight attendant with sufficent strength and fitness would be an asset in an emergency as well.
LOL You had to have SOME form of experssion. I was a wee one in the 50's but remember the cars that looked like they were ready to take off in space in the 60's and of course, the Mustang... I am kinda glad that I had already said no to dressup by the time I got to be a teen. But my mom dressed me in frilly dresses all elementary school and I vowed never to dress frilly again as Jr.Hi dawned.
I went to parochial school and both sexes wore uniforms, except for church on Sunday's when the boys got to dust off their White Bucks and the girls donned their frillies. Frilly was hot, IMO - But when you can't have something all the time it just makes you want it more.
The Mustang saved Ford after they blew it by making the T-Bird a four seater.
The 2 Seater T-Bird Coupe with removable hard top and port hole windows was one beautiful machine.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
