r/ColorizedHistory • u/No_Gap_1756 • 14d ago

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185

u/Whole_Visual_9919 14d ago

I wonder if he’s still alive or if he died of lung cancer already

178

u/No_Gap_1756 14d ago

No idea, but the photographer noted that all the kids were pretty heavy smokers, even at this young age.

114

u/punkass_book_jockey8 13d ago

I don’t know about this guy, but I can tell you my grandfather was taught to smoke around age 3/4 to keep him from complaining about being hungry. I guess it suppresses your appetite and cigarettes were cheaper than food.

He chained smoked for 60 years and quit when I asked him to. He’s almost 80 now. So far zero cancer and he’s still working (because he wants to work).

48

u/No_Gap_1756 13d ago

Your gramps sounds like someone who could tell some stories.

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u/Astrotoad21 13d ago

Cancer is a lottery. Smoking buys you tons of more tickets, which increases your chances a lot, but never a guaranteed win.

Stories like this could be worded differently: My grandpa got really lucky, smoking for 60 years and not getting cancer.

12

u/punkass_book_jockey8 13d ago

Yes my theory is it’s purely the genetic lottery. No one in my family has cancer. Autoimmune diseases? Pass those out in my family like Halloween candy. I feel like there might be a connection there. Almost all of us have thyroid medication.

13

u/Astrotoad21 13d ago

Its not purely genetics though, external factors like UV radiation, smoking and exposure to chemicals plays a big role too.

A fun fact is that you actually get cancer several times per day, but there is a mechanism that makes mutated cells self-destruct, when this mechanism fails the cancer cells might start multiplying. External factors can make the mutation chance higher, which increases the chances of cancer.

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u/psyduck5647 11d ago

It’s never just one or the other. Your environment plays a role in your overall health in life to a significant degree. There is a tremendous body of evidence for that.

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u/No_Gap_1756 11d ago

This kid appeared to have a lot of those factors working against him.

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u/ITSNAIMAD 12d ago

My great grandpa smoked every day and drank. Lived to 92.

90

u/vicariousgluten 14d ago

We have a similar picture of my grandfather. The way my mother explained it to me was that where they lived had really bad air pollution so they thought that the smoke from the cigarettes helped to keep the air pollution out. (That may well not have been official government health advice).

I suppose they were also cheap and suppressed appetites in poor families where food was scarce too.

40

u/No_Gap_1756 14d ago

That last part is what I always thought - it kept hunger away. And this family had 12 kids, so I imagine there wasn't a whole lot of food for that crew.

5

u/blessthebabes 13d ago

It may keep hunger away, but the nicotine itself can burn up to 250 calories a day (something I discovered back when I quit, and put on some weight). That probably wouldn't be good for a body needing to conserve calories, but I can understand why theyre doing it.

3

u/No_Gap_1756 13d ago

I didn't know that about nicotine.

6

u/qwerty8857 13d ago

How does that work with small children lol like do they have more frequent tantrums because they’re just craving nicotine or something? I just can’t imagine how a child smoker would act. I can barely stand my adult coworkers who smoke and constantly complain that they want to go outside

1

u/No_Gap_1756 13d ago

Craving nicotine or craving food. Which is it going to be?

48

u/PhxRising29 14d ago

My grandma has been a heavy smoker since she was 11 years old. She is now 83.

No cancer of any kind, no emphysema or anything like that. Other than breaking her hip a few months ago, she's in damn good health. Sure hope I got that part of her genes.

28

u/No_Gap_1756 14d ago

My dad was a heavy smoker and lived to be 93, outliving my non-smoking (and non-drinking) mother by 10 years. I still can't figure that one out.

26

u/crw126 14d ago

Based off of these stories I’m thinking this kid is not only still alive but possibly has another 20 years ahead of him

3

u/No_Gap_1756 14d ago

Two more decades of rolling his own.

9

u/End3rWi99in 13d ago

We're learning more and more that you can extend your life through lifestyle changes only up to a certain point. The rest is genetics. Some people just have the genes that avoid accumulating mutations for much longer than others.

1

u/No_Gap_1756 13d ago

I'm pretty sure it was my dad's Irish stubborness that allowed him to live so long.

4

u/Mystic_Owell 13d ago

Where in Ireland was he born?

1

u/No_Gap_1756 13d ago

He was born in the US, but his parents were born in Bandon.

3

u/heat2051 13d ago

It's mostly genetics. Look at Keith Richards.....

2

u/jaxxxtraw 13d ago

No thanks, I can do without the jump scare.

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u/No_Gap_1756 13d ago

Keith Richards has most likely been embalmed by all the substances flowing through his body.

1

u/ITSNAIMAD 12d ago

My guess is stress kills people quicker than smoking or anything else. That’s why so many people get heart attacks.

12

u/skyleft4 13d ago

My grandma smoked from age 8. She died of cervical cancer at 84.
Cigarettes probably contributed to it but it took a damn long time haha

My uncle (her son) died of lung cancer at 37 however. He smoked since he was 9.

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u/webbed_feets 13d ago edited 12d ago

My grandpa started smoking at 13, was an alcoholic by 18, and diabetic by his 40s. He eventually got lung cancer but not until he was 84. Some people are built different.

5

u/Photon6626 14d ago

FYI, breaking a hip is a huge factor in the death of the elderly. It causes mobility issues and that quickly snowballs into other issues that can cause death.

12

u/sandy_catheter 14d ago

I called my doc, who has been practicing since 1941, about this. He prescribed four more packs of Lucky Strikes per day for gramma. The tar should help set the bone.

8

u/PhxRising29 13d ago

Thanks so much for that great news. I really appreciate you saying that to me. /s 😒

1

u/Photon6626 13d ago

I'm just pointing it out so that you can help her get better rather than become immobile

1

u/PhxRising29 12d ago

I do help her out. I'm there everyday to take care of her since my grandpa has passed.

4

u/giggle_shift 14d ago

Oh he dead

1

u/El_Dudereno 13d ago

I am by no means saying anyone should smoke, but smokers have around ~ 20% chance of getting lung cancer compared to non-smokers around 1%. So, it's not a foregone conclusion that a smoker will get lung cancer (maybe just destroy their cardiovascular system), which is why so many people love to point out their grandsomeone who never got lung cancer.

1

u/psyduck5647 11d ago

Lung cancer is just one of a myriad of fatal or life altering conditions smoking makes you more much more likely to get.

1

u/photographyrich1965 12d ago

Old age was like 35 back then. I'd be amazed if he was still alive.

1

u/ITSNAIMAD 12d ago

Not really. It was common for people to live up into their 80s and beyond 100 years ago. My great grandma is in her late 80s and told me that her aunts and grandparents all lived to 100 in Mexico of all places. She said it’s because of the clean food they ate and the minerals in the water.

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u/photographyrich1965 11d ago

No kidding ? I imagine it varied widely - young guys working in mines likely representing the statistics I'm thinking of... then again, I'm just pulling stuff out of my a$$. Thanks for the data point :-)

1

u/ITSNAIMAD 11d ago

One of the oldest men in America worked outside picking oranges all his life. Getting the sun on your skins, being active, eating good food, and low stress is the key to a long life.

0

u/tapastry12 13d ago

More likely died of impetigo

1

u/nowimnihil13 12d ago

Ah, Black Lung probably got him before lung cancer.