Time to Make a Spectacle!

On Tuesday I got new glasses, and they were fantastic, till Wednesday when one of the nose pieces mysteriously went missing. So much for nice new glasses! So on Thursday I had to go back to the store to get the nose piece replaced. Unfortunately the didn't have the nose piece I needed so they had to change both of them and the man working was having issues because his hands were so big. It was agonizing.

But!!! It gave me time to think about spectacles. I have to say I without glasses I would be a sad and unfortunate soul (does anyone feel like singing?). I'm pretty blind without my glasses or contacts. But what about those people waaaaay back that didn't have anything to use to make them see better? So let's think about them, shall we?

1000 AD a reading device was invented to put on parchment that you were reading. You would simply slide this piece of glass across the page as you read and it would magnify it for you. They called this object a "reading stone". Before this date no mention of any device to help sight has ever been mentioned in history. In fact there is record of a Roman telling of his old age and bad eyesight and was now having to depend on slaves to get things done for him. This was in 100BC.

Picture of the reading stone.

Supposedly the Chinese invented spectacles about 2000 years ago. Or so it seems. With further research into the matter you will find that these "glasses" were really only used to wear to protect themselves from evil spirits.

The first spectacles to be worn, that we know of, were invented in the 13th century. They were invented by an Italian of the name Salvino D'Armate. Whether he was the original inventor is unknown but apparently these wearable eye glasses were a huge hit. In 1289 in a manuscript entitled Traite de con uite de la famille, di Popozo wrote: "I am so debilita-ted-by age that without glasses known as spectacles, I would no longer be able to read or write. These have recently been invented for the benefit of poor old people whose sight has become weak."



The first paintings of anywhere wearing glasses were painted in the 14th century by an artist by the name of Tommaso da Medena.

Glasses have simply evolved from those first ones. As you can imagine. Now we'll take another trip into the past and study sunglasses.

We first know about sunglasses in 60 AD. Around that time, anyway. They were used by Emperor Nero. He was said to have held a piece of emerald-green gems up to his eyes while watching the gladiator fights.

Chinese invented the first pair of wearable sunglasses in the 15th century. These glasses were kept in place by weights that were hung around the ears.

In the 18th century an inventor by the name of James Ayscough invented tinted corrective glasses so they not only helped protect your eyes from the sun but also improved your site. Quite fascinating!!