Feeling old in old-time Phoenix


I've been feeling old lately. As long as I can remember, this feeling has hit me every once in a while. I remember feeling old at age 25 at ASU, as an "old man on campus", because it took me about seven years to get my four-year degree. I don't recall any 19-year-old coeds holding me by the elbow to help me up the stairs, or calling me sir, but I knew that it was time for me to move on.

And of course, feeling old is relative. Now I look back at every time I felt old and wonder why I thought that way? I guess it has to do with things that we associate with old age. So now I'm wondering about feeling old in old-time Phoenix.

As a man who's enjoyed such robust health that sometimes it feels as if I were going to live forever, I've been aware of people who haven't been as lucky as me. And the first thing I think of is teeth. I've been lucky - I selected my parents well, and had the benefit of excellent dental care all of my life. And when I imagine people in old-time Phoenix I usually think of them as having what we would consider nowadays pretty bad teeth. I suppose the wealthier people could afford dental work, but most people would just pull a tooth once it had a cavity. Depending on the person, there could be a lot of teeth missing as early as their teens.

Another thing that wasn't available in old-time Phoenix was sunblock. And people who spend a lot of time outdoors in the sun in Phoenix know that the sun can be very hard on skin, and can age it prematurely. Again, the wealthier people who could sit indoors most of the time could retain that "schoolgirl complexion", but most people didn't have that luxury. Women of refinement, in addition to having beautiful alabaster skin, also carried some extra weight, which showed off their wealth. A suntan and a skinny body wouldn't have been what society women wanted to have!

Something that we now associate with very old age is being very, very skinny. I've know a few elderly people who have to work hard to keep their weight up, as food just doesn't seem to make them fat and happy like it did when they were younger. Of course, in old-time Phoenix, you would have needed a very healthy digestive system to keep you the way you were when you were a kid. If you've ever wondered why you see so few overweight people in old photos, it wasn't because they all had stationary bikes at home, it was because food just wasn't as consistent as it is now, and water could upset your stomach. I won't go into any detail here, but it wasn't pleasant. Healthy children, and babies, were pleasingly plump, indicating that they got good nourishment.

Feeling young yet?

Image at the top of this post: John P. Osborn, who owned the farm a few miles north of downtown Phoenix. My best guess on his age in the photo is that he was in his forties.
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