# I'm older than Archie Bunker and other gut punches of pop culture **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 10, 2025, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902 "2025-09-10T02:38:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2025, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902/61 "2025-09-11T12:17:38Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > Don’t forget Leonardo Dicaprio. He’s still in his 50s, but somewhere along the way he somehow became the stereotypical “dirty old man”. I’m still trying to figure that one out. I think the fact that he only dates models who are 24 or younger, dumping them when they age out, has a lot to do with that. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2025, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902/62 "2025-09-11T14:40:39Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > But not many. OTOH, somebody like Brad Pitt, just to take a random name from the preceding post, has plenty of extended length film & stills of himself at every stage of adulthood. I was in the used record/DVD store this weekend, and they had a grouped shelf of Tom Hanks movies. It’s quite the contrast putting _Bachelor Party_ and _Big_ next to _Greyhound_ and _News of the World_. Are they even the same person? You never see the change from day to day. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2025, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902/63 "2025-09-11T15:05:55Z")
Something that made me feel old is learning that in the first season of Full House, Danny has a _30th_ birthday and Bob Saget was, IIRC, only 31. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2025, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902/64 "2025-09-11T15:18:31Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > Jean Stapleton was 48 (born in 1923) and Edith dressed like my grandmother (born 1910) did in the late 60s/early 70s. I can still remember the first time I saw Jean Stapleton when she was being herself, rather than Edith. I think it was on some awards show, the Emmys or something like that. It was hard for me to believe it was the same person. She was dressed more attractively, her hairstyle was more flattering, and her voice was completely different. My parents had to assure me that yes, it was really Edith Bunker. She just seemed like an entirely different person. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2025, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902/65 "2025-09-11T15:24:47Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > I can still remember the first time I saw Jean Stapleton when she was being herself, rather than Edith. This picture of Jean, with Alice Cooper at a 1973 charity gala, just blows me away. [![](https://64.media.tumblr.com/2cbd0848758a4e6e9f632bc93abeb279/269b6408ca471e28-67/s1280x1920/3e7702d6d97e9dc1d7b921a11737147bfc8ba1dd.jpg) ](https://64.media.tumblr.com/2cbd0848758a4e6e9f632bc93abeb279/269b6408ca471e28-67/s1280x1920/3e7702d6d97e9dc1d7b921a11737147bfc8ba1dd.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2025, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902/66 "2025-09-11T15:37:41Z")
The Archie and Edith characters were both meant to represent well-worn people with plenty of hard knocks under their belts. As such, lots more mileage than age. But also old-fashioned for their age. IOW in many ways the characters resembled their parents more than their contemporaries. O’Connor and Stapleton did a great job of putting on that rode hard put away wet mid-century workin’ class persona. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2025, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902/67 "2025-09-11T15:39:06Z")
One of the things about younger women especially looking older back in the 1950s and even into the 1960s was they all had common short-coiffed hair cut at a 45º angle. And ‘older’ women (40+, for example) had that styled, stiff helmet hair. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2025, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902/68 "2025-09-11T17:33:56Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > And ‘older’ women (40+, for example) had that styled, stiff helmet hair. A relative of mine from that era must’ve gone through a can of aquanet every week. I was at some sort of event and she walked past me and a few other people (that didn’t know her). One of them commented that she has the type of hair that would survive a war unscathed. The other pulled out a lighter, lit it and said ‘wanna bet’. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2025, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902/69 "2025-09-11T22:53:32Z")
Archie and Edith were also based on their British counterparts, so already had a style to emulate. [![](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/tv/2022/09/05/TELEMMGLPICT000308014234_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqF6ZbFw_tp6Di2QbhEmANynGTJFJS74MYhNY6w3GNbO8.jpeg) ](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/tv/2022/09/05/TELEMMGLPICT000308014234_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqF6ZbFw_tp6Di2QbhEmANynGTJFJS74MYhNY6w3GNbO8.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![LoneRhino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lonerhino/32/1311_2.png) [@LoneRhino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LoneRhino)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2025, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902/70 "2025-09-12T04:19:27Z")
My father would have been 120 last year. This one blows my mind. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2025, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902/71 "2025-09-12T14:41:34Z")
The kids born to teenaged moms who got all hot and bothered after their n’th viewing of _Titanic_ in 1997 have been voting and drinking legally for half a decade now. ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2025, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902/72 "2025-09-12T15:04:43Z")
In 2004, the band Bowling for Soup had a sort-of novelty hit song called _1985_. Obviously, the song is about pop culture from 1985. Today is farther away from the song than the song was from 1985. So, if I listen to the song, am I nostalgic for nostalgia? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2025, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902/73 "2025-09-12T17:05:52Z")
If you somehow transcribe it to vinyl, you can be nostalgic for nostalgia about nostalgia. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2025, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902/74 "2025-09-12T18:40:42Z")
> [@LoneRhino](#): > > My father would have been 120 last year. This one blows my mind. He lived through half of American history and I’ve lived through a third of American history. That’s why “within living memory” is so powerful a concept. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2025, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902/75 "2025-09-12T19:00:53Z")
I think the reigns of Queens Victoria and Elizabeth II span more than half of U.S. history. Not their lifespans; just actual time as monarchs. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2025, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902/76 "2025-09-12T20:01:37Z")
President John Tyler’s last living grandson died this year. > **[Harrison Ruffin Tyler](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_Ruffin_Tyler)** > > Harrison Ruffin Tyler (November 9, 1928 – May 25, 2025) was an American preservationist and archivist. Tyler was the last surviving grandchild of the tenth U.S. president, John Tyler (1790–1862). The period from the president's birth to his last grandchild's death spanned 235 years. Harrison Tyler was prominent in preserving Sherwood Forest Plantation, the Tyler ancestral home, and nearby Fort Pocahontas. He donated voluminous historic family materials and funds to the history department at the... ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2025, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902/77 "2025-09-13T13:15:33Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > But 8 cried for a week when i learned that both Dara O’Brien and Greg Davis are younger than i am. 😱 David Mitchell is younger than me. So is Wil Wheaton. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902.md?page=3)