…reading glasses

“Men don’t make passes at girls who wear glasses” – thanks Dorothy Parker. This stigma actually originated from English society where wearing glasses was deemed unfashionable because it revealed imperfection. Sadly today kids are still calling each other “four eyes in the playground” but its not as malicious as back in the Middle Ages.

The first eyeglasses appeared in the 1260s in Italy to help the elderly with failing vision to read, and looked a little something like this:

Annoyingly, these glasses were designed in a fashion that was not very practical. They had no frames held by the ears like modern glasses, and frequently fell down the nose of the person wearing them.

In 1604 the first written explanation about glasses for short sightedness opposed to long sightedness was published. It wasn’t until the 1780s that Benjamin Franklin invented bifocal lenses because he was sick of swapping glasses every time he wanted to read a book.

During the middle ages, while the English and French wore glasses only in private, the Spanish believed that glasses should be worn always as they added an air of dignity and made their wearer seem more important. Their paintings of prominent figures during this time depicted the person wearing glasses – including their paintings of Jesus. The old stereotype about people wearing glasses as seeming smarter or more professional it seems has stuck thanks to the Spanish.

In 1730, five hundred years after the first reading glasses were invented, a London optometrist by the name of Edward Scarlett invented the sidepieces still used in eyeglass design today to hold glasses in place and prevent them falling down.

Leonardo da Vinci was the first to consider the idea and consequently paint contact lens technology back in 1508, but it wasn’t until 1929 that this idea was perfected and actually put into practice with the masses. This was around the same time as sunglasses began to be used which is interesting in itself. As unpopular visible glasses were done away with sunglasses became popular as celebrities in Hollywood sported them about town.

Today, there are a number of options for those needing a little assistance with reading or seeing in general – no one likes running into walls.

Some try to predict the future of reading glasses, but who really knows the future of correcting vision impairment.