Forever Young: The Social Transformation of Aging in America Since 1900 The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Fallon, Cara Kiernan. 2018. Forever Young: The Social Transformation of Aging in America Since 1900. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:41121250 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA Forever Young: The Social Transformation of Aging in America Since 1900 A dissertation presented by Cara Kiernan Fallon to The Department of History of Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the subject of History of Science Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts August 2018 © 2018 Cara Kiernan Fallon All rights reserved. Allan M. Brandt Cara Kiernan Fallon Forever Young: The Social Transformation of Aging in America Since 1900 Abstract Between 1900 and 2000, life expectancy in the United States increased by three decades—from 47 to 77—a greater increase in one century than in the entire previous history of humankind. With it, the population over sixty-five increased from four to twelve percent of the United States population, and those over eighty-five became the fastest-growing demographic group. While growing old has become increasingly common, the processes of aging have not become welcomed or accepted. Instead, millions of adults undergo surgical procedures to reduce or reverse the physical signs of aging, while others embark on intensive anti-aging regimens at ever-younger ages. Still others, often increasingly elderly, resist using canes, walkers, and other devices associated with being “old,” viewing them as symbols of decline. While the desire to be healthy in old age is not new, the pressures and avenues for combatting physical and cognitive decline have made the experience of aging a deeply feared, even distressing, often expensive and time-consuming aspect of twenty-first century life. This dissertation examines the paradox in which Americans are aging into ever- later years amidst new cultural ideals of remaining healthy and youthful forever. Through a series of four case studies based on mobility, safety, appearance, and cognition, this dissertation analyzes the ways many conditions once considered common, even inevitable, in old age became targets of medical intervention and consumer desire, preoccupying the young and emerging as new fault lines for the old, and orienting both iii around their prevention. It analyzes the interconnected relationships of medicine, public health, and the commercial marketplace, considering the material gains as well as oppressive new standards that emerged as remaining healthy—even young—forever was held out as a new ideal, and regarded as potentially achievable by a large portion of the American middle class. Combining close reading of physicians’ papers, advice literature, and consumer company archives with an analysis of technologies of daily living—the material world of the elderly—this dissertation provides insight into the changing values and emergence of powerful moral norms for women’s and men’s interventions on their aging bodies and the gendered implications of infirmity in old age. More than a story of cultural antipathy for aging and impossible standards, this research illuminates the ways women’s and men’s responses to their aging bodies were part of the multifaceted and evolving relationships between medicine and consumer culture, science and stigma, health and disease. iv Table of Contents List of Figures vi Acknowledgements vii Introduction. Remapping the Life Course 1 Objects. Conceal and Reveal: Status, Stigma, and Walking with a Cane 23 Environments. Falling at Home: Elderly Women and the Crisis of Falls 62 Appearances. Wrinkles Over Time: Women’s Faces and the Pursuit of ‘Ageless’ Skin 115 Interiors. Aging Brains: Senility, Plasticity, and the Search for the Cognitive Fountain of Youth 178 Conclusion. On Aging Well 227 Bibliography. 235 v List of Figures Fig. 1. Aging, Natural Death, and the Compression of Morbidity, 1980. 2 Fig. 2. Compression of Morbidity, 2014. 3 Fig. 3. The Life and Age of Man, c. 1820. 6 Fig. 4. The Life and Age of Man and Woman, c. 1848. 7 Fig. 5. Gorham Company Cane Heads, 1900. 30 Fig. 6. Men’s Fashions, 1918. 34 Fig. 7. Keep On Walkin’, 1993. 56 Fig. 8. No Room for Falls, 1955. 81 Fig. 9. Safe at Home, 1958. 85 Fig. 10. Falls Hurt! 1970. 100 Fig. 11. Can You Fallproof this Home? 1975. 103 Fig. 12. A Mnemonic for Falls in the Elderly, 2005. 108 Fig. 13. A Wrinkle! I’m Getting Old! 1937. 146 Fig. 14. Patch Tests of Cutaneous Detergents, 1942. 152 Fig. 15. Fry Now, Pay Later, 1985. 162 Fig. 16. “The Look Younger Issue,” ft. Christie Brinkley at Sixty-Two, 2016. 170 Fig. 17. Environmental Complexity and Training Condition, 1972. 203 vi Acknowledgements Researching and writing this dissertation has been possible, even meaningful and gratifying, because of the generosity, enthusiasm, and critical engagement of many people I would like to thank here. First and foremost, my dissertation committee members have been models of scholarly dedication, excellence, and creativity, and this dissertation would not have been possible without them. Thank you, Nancy, for your rigorous readings of my chapters and your ability to see things no one else has seen. You frequently pointed out critical elements worthy of development, and you elevated my work as you have long done for all those around you. Thank you for your diligence and insightfulness, your deep intellect, and your encouragement. To Laurel, thank you for your thoughtful critiques, your inspired ideas, and your unassuming suggestions that entirely transformed my work. You have shown me how to piece together fragments of evidence to explore seemingly invisible subjects. You inspire each of us to recognize that it doesn’t matter what you look at, it matters what you see. To David, thank you for your exceptionally thorough and thoughtful readings of my work, your creative brainstorming sessions at key sticking points, and your super-human commitment to your students. From first drafts to final drafts, you read nearly every word I wrote with impressive dedication and provided critical feedback in greater detail than imaginable. Thank you for your meticulous logic, unwavering support, extraordinary generosity, and for pushing my arguments when you knew they needed it. To my dissertation advisor and chair, Allan, I am so incredibly grateful for your limitless advice, your sharp eye for turning points, your flexible thinking, unflagging support, and your commitment to doing things that matter. You always vii seemed to know what was needed at different stages of this project, and you believed in all of the versions this dissertation has taken over time. I have benefited from your vision, your virtuosity, and your deep humanity—thank you for being a paragon of mentorship that has fundamentally changed my research and my understanding of what it is to be a scholar. To my entire committee—my heartfelt thanks for everything you’ve done over these past several years to bring this project to fruition. I am so grateful. Perhaps it goes without saying, but all errors that remain are my own and I will address them in the future. In addition to my dissertation committee, I have benefited from the insights of many people in the history of medicine and beyond. I would like to thank Naomi Rogers, who has been a source of inspiration and encouragement for more than a decade, always asking important questions and offering useful suggestions. Naomi, your commitment to excellence and dedication to your students in every phase of their careers is exemplary, and you never let New Haven be too far for a meeting. A special thanks to Katharine Park, who showed me the beauty of scholarly research, the surprises of history, and the wonders of exploring time periods beyond one’s primary focus. Thank you to Lara Freidenfelds, who posed insightful questions and creative solutions to every facet of this research. Your ability to envision the impact of this work has been immeasurably helpful, and your encouragement put wind in my sails on many occasions. I am also grateful for the encouragement and advice of Charles Rosenberg, Jeremy Greene, Beth Linker, Shigehisa Kuriyama, John Warner, and Elizabeth Bradley on various aspects of my scholarship. viii On a daily basis, Christina Kasman at the Yale Club of New York City provided encouragement and created an intellectual community that sustained my writing. To Christina, as well as Beth Wellman and Teri Mendelsohn, thank you for your enthusiasm, high standards, generosity, and commitment to getting things done. Another special thanks to Debbie Nugent for her daily support. My graduate student community has also been a terrific source of inspiration—a sincere thanks to Lisa Haushofer, Leena Akhtar, Paolo Savoia, Miriam Rich, Emily Harrison, Stephanie Dick, Jenna Tonn, Maddie Williams, Elizabeth Katz, John Bell, Chris Allison, Carla Cevasco, as well as Debbie Doroshow, Jenna Healey, Rachel Rothschild, and Kelly O’Donnell for your warmth and camaraderie. In the course of this research, I received generous funding from Harvard University for my graduate studies and the History of Science department’s Erwin N. Hiebert and Matthew P. Strominger awards that supported the presentation of portions of this work. The Charles Warren Center for Studies in American History and the Woodrow Wilson Foundation’s Charlotte W. Newcombe Fellowship each generously supported dedicated research and writing, and this project has greatly benefited from this time.