Magnum: He's been dead over 20 years, and the end still ain't nowhere in sight.
This. My mother began to study with the JWs in the mid-60s. Her mother and sister were JWs already, and I get the impression that they talked to her about 1975. And since her own life was not going as she had hoped, the thought of a brand new start in just a few years must have sounded perfect.
Today, some 55 years later, she is still convinced that the end is very close and that it could happen at any time. And she believes that "any time" means tomorrow or the day after, because "the world situation is too bad to continue like this" and whatever other stuff they tell one another.
I am certain of this much: if the WTS had said back in 1975 that the end would come sometime after 2023, and not before, she would have walked away right then and there. Saying that "soon" meant "more than 50 years" would have sounded so preposterous that she would have said 'no' and moved on with her life.