Reading Glasses Fashion Guide

Archive for the ‘History’ Category

The first recorded use of sunglasses was in China during the 12th century or possibly earlier.

It is hard to say who wore the first pair of sunglasses. Many have given this honor to the Roman emperor Nero, who enjoyed watching gladiator fights through polished gems. The first recorded use of sunglasses was in China during the 12th century or possibly earlier. The lenses of these sunglasses were polished flat panes of smoky quartz. They did not correct any visual problems but did protect the eyes from glare, and evil spirits according to some beliefs. Current documents describe judges in Chinese courts using glasses such as these to conceal their facial expressions while they question witnesses.

In the mid-18th century, James Ayscough started experimenting with tinted lenses in spectacles. He believed blue or green glass would correct problems with vision impairments. He was not interested in protecting the eyes from the harmful rays of the sun.

The first sunglasses that were introduced to the public as offering protection from the sun was by Sam Foster in 1929. He had a strong and ready market at Atlantic City, New Jersey and sold his Foster Grants from a Woolworth located on the Boardwalk. However, it wasn’t until 1936, when Edwin H. Land experimented making lenses from his patented Polaroid filters that sunglasses became polarized.

Earlier eyepieces had to be held either hand or applied pressure on the nose such as with the pince-nez style spectacles.

Franciscus Redi, a professor at the University of Pisa in 1676, documented that he had a manuscript written in 1289. The author of the manuscript complained he was unable to see to read or write until the recent invention of glasses. From this and other evidence, we know that glasses were invented in the 1280s, in northern Italy. Unfortunately, we do not know the true identity of the inventor. It is believed that the original inventor was Arab, who used magnifying lenses sometime around the 10th century.

A recorded sermon given by a Dominican monk named Fra Giordano da Rivalto in 1305, states that he remarked glasses were invented less than twenty years ago, and he’d met the inventor. Because of this evidence, Redi credited Fra Alessandro da Spina of Pisa, another Dominican monk, with the re-discovery and re-invention of glasses.

Florentine historian, Domenico Manni, reported in 1738 that a tombstone located in Florence gives credit to Salvino d’Armato who died in 1317 with the invention of glasses.  The truth as to who actually invented glass may never be known. Whoever they were—Thank you.

The early glasses were fitted with convex lenses to correct the effects of Presbyopia, farsightedness. It is believed that Nicholas was the first to discover the benefits of concave lens to correct the effects of myopia, nearsightedness. In 1604, Johannes Kepler published the first correct explanation of how convex and concave lenses correct Presbyopia and myopia. Then in 1784, American scientist Benjamin Franklin invented bifocals. Like so many of us today, he suffered from myopia and Presbyopia and was aggravated from having to constantly switch between two pairs of glasses. 1827, British astronomer George Airy, was the first to develop corrective lenses for astigmatism. This is the unequal curvature of one or more refractive surfaces of the eye, which prevents the proper amount of light rays from entering the eye, causing the inability to focus clearly, thus resulting in blurred vision.

Over the years, eyeglass frames began to evolve. Earlier eyepieces had to be held either hand or applied pressure on the nose such as with the pince-nez style spectacles. Girolamo Savonarola developed eyepieces that were held in place by a ribbon, which passed over the individual’s head and held securely in place with a hat. However, problems arose once the hat was removed. In 1727, British optician Edward Scarlett developed the modern style of how we wear glasses. He created curved stems which held the glassed by passing the stems over the ears. This design however was not immediately successful as other styles with attached handles such as scissors glasses and lorgnettes. Then in the late 1800′s at Oxford University, a professor placed nose pads on his lorgnettes, easing the pressure they applied to his nose.