Why did people in the past look so much older? (Picture from the 80s inside)

It's those ridiculous haircuts.

I don't believe those ages...

Hair and clothing styles are drastically different and younger looking.

yea i was wondering if it was just psychological since i always thought of these characters as "old"?

an interesting theory is the blue light from our cell phone screens

The aesthetics of the time period don't help (hair, clothing, etc...), also some people just look older, and some people look younger. I have a cousin who is 42 and could pass for someone in their late 20's. I'm 33, and people think I'm in my mid 20's. But, at the same time, I have friends my age who look like they are mid-late 30's.

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yea i was wondering if it was just psychological since i always thought of these characters as "old"?

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I think it’s all physiological. We equate these clothing and hairstyles to a certain era of our childhood (or generally older era) and see it through that pane of glass. The nostalgia and picture quality also affects our mindset when looking at pictures like this.

Nutritional standards are better now, even though Americans are fatter. We also have significantly better pre-natal care, which has lifelong consequences.

People matured in their teens, worked more physical jobs.

yea i think smoking peaked in the 70s/80s so im sure that matters

although, even before smoking was a mainstream activity - those people looked old af too (1930s/1940s)

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The aesthetics of the time period don't help

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The idea in the 80's was to grow up and be as independent as possible. People tried to look adult in their teens.