BeautyBlogr

The history of sunglasses began back during the time of the great Chinese dynasties. That was hundreds of years ago! Back in these days the method to darken eyeglasses was smoke tinting and not even intended to protect people’s eyes from sunlight and the bad effects of UV radiation.

Chinese judges wore the early tinted glasses not for vision-reduction or to reduce glare from the sun.

The glasses had the ability to do this, but they were used to conceal the judges’ eye expressions and to a point facial expressions. Even when vision-correction eyeglasses were introduced into China from Italy anno 1430 they were not intended to be used as sunglasses. The smoke-colored flat panes of quartz were still mainly for use in the courts.

James Ayscough, an English man, began experimenting with tinted lenses in glasses, known as spectacles, in the mid 18th century. At that time the protection from sunrays was not an issue, so Ayscough thought that blue or even green tinted glasses could correct specific vision problems.

The first occurence of modern-type sunglasses had to wait until the 20th century and the invention of movies. The early silent movie stars were said to were them because they weanted to shield their eyes from the glar of stage lights before filming. Those stage lights often were as bright as the sun itself. The mass production had to wait until 1929 and the American named Sam Foster. He was the first to produce cheap sunglasses with the intention to protect people’s eyes. After being snapped up by New Jersey’s beach goers the demand for sunglasses saw a massive upsurge.

When the year 1930 came anyone had to own a pair to be anyone, as they were all the rage.

1936 was the time of Edwin H. Land, the founder of the Polaroid Corporation. He polarized sunglasses by inventing the first inexpensive filters capable of polarising light, the Polaroid film. More and more Americans began buying sunglasses not only because they could protect from the sun. They became an easy way to look cool as many famous stars of stage and music started wearing them. A cultural phenomenon was born with all the weird little things like some people wearing them indoor or when it just wasn’t sunny. Sunglasses finally became cool during the Second World War. According to popular belief they were made an inspirational item among young people all over the world with images of soldiers wearing sunglasses.

An ingenious advertising campaign by the comb and glass firm of Foster Grand persuaded fashion designers in the sixities of the day. And with Hollywood film stars starting to escalate the sunglasses craze a giant industry was born. Remember that a few decades earlier there was just no industry for sunglasses.

The future of sunglasses looks quite assured, as the concerns over the effect of the sun’s rays and the UV radiation are steadily increasing. Different tints for the lenses have contributed to the wide variety of todays sunglasses and their styles changed often during the years. Prescribed glasses can be given a special tint that only appears when sunrays hit the glass.

Technology is alive and the business is bigger than ever. Quo vadis, sunglasses?