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.”

Jennifer Aniston will be 51 in February, but she looks like she could be this grandmother’s daughter. What was it about the past that made people turn gray so early?

@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.”

Ritchie Valens looked like a middle-aged man with heart problems when he was just a teen. By comparison, 25-year-old Justin Bieber still looks like he should be one of Disney’s Mousketeers.

@bho27:

“He looks like papa John after eating 40 pizzas in 30 days.”

3) “Buddy Holly was 22 Big Bopper 28”

Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper perished in the same plane crash that took Ritchie Valens’ life. And like the doomed teen, they also looked a decade older than they were.

@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.”

You mean 23 in dog years, right? Dad already looked old enough to have a pension under his belt. Plus, those cheesy eyeglasses that turn into sunglasses when you go outside certainly didn’t help him look his age!

@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”

If you’re not a baseball fan, you might not know which one of these golden oldies is supposed to be 42. That would be good old Sparky on the far right. Kind of makes you wonder what ghosts he saw that made his hair turn so white!

@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”

Jim Morrison’s inner demons, coupled with the alcohol and drugs he took, put him on the fast track to looking like a weathered Alaskan oil rigger. Even though he still has a bit of a baby face underneath that beard, you can see all the hard years he lived add up in his eyes.

@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”

This is a photo of John Ratzenberger from the first season of Cheers. And no, he’s not 47 in this picture!

@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.”

Norm, played by George Wendt, was also only a year younger than his perennial drinking buddy on Cheers. He was born in 1948, which means he was only 33 when the show first aired in 1981. It was have been all that booze that aged him!

@Christine23789:

“I think it’s their clothing and hairstyles that really ages them.”

9) “Kelsey Grammar was 29!!!!!”

When Kelsey Grammar’s character Dr. Frasier Crane made his first appearance on Cheers during its third season, the actor was technically still in his twenties! He was barely old enough to rent a car, and yet his receding hairline was already propelling him into his retirement years.

@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

Actor Carroll O’Connor, who was 47 when All in the Family first aired, looked and acted like the typical crotchety, middle-aged man he portrayed. But Brad Pitt, who was 45 when this screenshot of him in Burn After Reading was taken, looked like he could be Archie Bunker’s son at around that 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.”

Well, every generation hopes that the next generation will be better than theirs. And it’s better because Botox and laser treatments were finally invented!

@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.”

Like many musicians who died way too young, it was a cocktail of drugs (alcohol, morphine, and chloral hydrate) that ultimately led to Hank Williams’ demise. It also contributed to his 45-year-old dad bod next door look.

@KentFaulker4:

“Well….. his liver WAS 102 years old, though.”

13) “The Rock looked older in high school than he does right now.”

Just because people looked older in the past doesn’t mean they can’t look younger now. The Rock, who was 46 years old when Jumanji: The Next Level was filmed, proves that aging backwards is totally possible (if you’re a celebrity and have loads of money)!

@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.”

She’s right. Dated clothing and hairstyles can seem to make someone look older simply because it’s no longer fashionable to us right now.

@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*.”

Here’s a little known fact by Cliff Clavin from Cheers: being knighted by the Queen is a death sentence for your fresh-faced looks. It makes you look Yoda when he was a baby at 100!

@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”

NFL linebacker Ray Nitschke spent his entire career with the Green Bay Packers. He’s not even 30 in this photo, and he still looks like he should have already retired from the team!

@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!”

When a plane crash took his life at the age of 30 in 1973, American folk singer Jim Croce looked like he could pass for a retired adult film star. His hit song “Time in a Bottle” spoke about making his days last forever, but sadly he couldn’t capture the magic of bottling time on a personal level.

@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”

Some of you may remember actor Freddie Prinze Jr. from the cult classic film I Know What You Did Last Summer. But, not many know that his famous comedian father lost his life at the age of 22 from a self-inflicted wound. At the time of his passing, Freddie Sr. look looked more like your 35-year-old “Uncle Manny” than a very young father who was barely out of high school.

19) “Ralph Macchio is about the same age now that Pat Morita was at the time of The Karate Kid.”

Granted, Ralph Macchio is an anomaly when it comes to aging (he doesn’t). As for Mr. Miyagi, apparently he his “wax off” trick didn’t work for his older looking skin.

@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”

Can you believe the ages of the cast when this photo was taken? The ladies look fine, but man oh man, just look at the men!

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.”

Lee Marvin actually gets a free pass to look like whatever the heck he wants! The dude fought and was injured in WWII, received a Purple Heart Medal for his valor, and then went on to survive the trials and tribulations of Hollywood. It’s no wonder the actor was known as for his prematurely white hair!

@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.”

Wow, 31 looked a lot different back when George “Duke” Harris was sporting this scary comb-over look. Even though Grecian Formula was invented in 1962, it wouldn’t have mattered because poor Georgie here was already losing all his hair!

@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.”

Apparently, some kind of space-time physics anomaly must have caused John Tenta to spin around the sun twice as fast as the rest of the world! There can be no other explanation for his advanced age.

@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.”

Well, the answer to this conundrum is quite obvious. All that time travel has made Ted Theodore Logan look very excellent for his 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”

Granted, Liz is all glammed up because she was a Hollywood starlet. But still, she did look quite a bit older and “tell that to the judge” comes to mind here!

@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.”

He kind of looks like Prince William around that age. Unfortunately, bad balding genes will do that to a guy!

@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.”

He looked pretty ancient for 45! No wonder everyone assumed he was your granddad.

@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.”

Here’s a famous photo that many of us have seen. It’s a prime example of what hard work and no play will do to a person. That, and trying to raise a family when the world has gone to crap will put anyone on the fast track to the grave.

29) “1987. Ron Karkovice was 24 years old.”

If this is what former MLB catcher Ron Karkovice looked like at 24, he must have started dating when he was 10! He was drafted right out of high school by the Chicago White Sox when he was around 19, but that was probably because they believed he already had lots of experience under his belt.

@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)”

When legendary basketball player Larry Bird popped out his mom’s womb, he was already 5 feet tall and shooting hoops. When he finally made it big in his 20’s, he already looked like he’d spent a solid 20 years playing on the court.

@_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.”

JFK was the second youngest President when he was elected at the age of 43, and he captured America’s attention with his dashing good looks. Compare that to broadcast journalist Walter Cronkite, who at the same age looked like he was born in the previous generation.

@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!!!!!”

One of the most beautiful creatures to have ever graced this planet was already looking very womanly when she was still just a teenager! But, the difference with her is that she stopped aging at that point and continued to look youthful as she got older.

33) “Arn Anderson looked like he was 48 years old 20 years before he was 48 years old.”

You know that beefy middle-aged guy in the gym who is still pumping iron, and you hope that you can still look that good when you’re 50? Well that was pro wresting and WWE Hall of Famer Arn Anderson while he was still in his 20’s!

34) “Martin : 42 and Candy : 37 when this came out…I’m 43 and I feel like they look waaaay older than me!”

As far as anyone can tell, Steve Martin has always had white hair. But to be fair, he must have stopped the clock because he hasn’t really aged much in the past 40 years.

35) “This is hockey’s Gump Worsley. Born in 1929, this is a picture of him with the Montreal Canadiens.”

It’s not clear just how old Gump was when this photo was taken. But, we do know that “the last year he played with Montreal was 1970, when Gump was 41 years old.” Is your mind totally blown yet?

@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”

Now, there haven’t been a lot of black folks on this list because “black don’t crack” for a reason. But, Otis Nixon was part of the 1% who wasn’t lucky enough to inherit the immortality gene.

@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.”

What do you think would happen if your mom were dating today? Guys who thought they were talking to a 17-year-old would be pissed about getting catfished when they saw her in person!

@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.”

Rue McClanahan, who is the golden girl on the far left, was born in Feburary of 1934. That would have made her 51 when Golden Girls premiered in 1985. In comparison, both Jennifer Aniston and JLo will be the same age this year.

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.”

Apparently he discovered the Fountain of Youth from the waist down, but forgot to get his hair wet! As long as you don’t look at his head, he actually does look his age!

@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.”

Keith Moon lived a typical hardcore rock’n’roll life style as a drummer for The Who. His drug and alcohol abuse accelerated his aging, which is why he looked like a dog’s well-worn chew toy when he passed away from an overdose at the age of 32.

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Source: Bored Panda, Twitter