A study examined the discourse sequences and routines through which older adults disclose their ages to others. Data are drawn from conversations between women, who were asked to "get to know each other," and interviews with 34 women and 6 men in an elderly day care center. The second source group was used only to support the distribution evidence from the first group. Disclosure of chronological age (DCA) occurred in 75% of the intergenerational conversations and in 80% of the elderly interviews. In the intergenerational conversations, the older participant generally disclosed her age first, and in the interviews, the older adult generally disclosed age early in the interaction, and often in response to questions about health. From the analysis of DCA discourse contexts, it is concluded that elderly DCA can be treated as functional and strategic. What particularly seems to distinguish early age-related discourse is the multiple-layering of identity and "face" considerations. Face can also be lost during DCA sequences. It appears that DCA offers an opportunity for elderly individuals to evaluate, within conversation, where they stand developmentally. (MSE)