NEW FRAME ALERT: AMERICAN OPTICAL!
We are so honored and proud to be offering American Optical sunglasses at Spectacle! While they are new to our office, they have been around for generations. You may even recall John F. Kennedy sporting them back in the day. Since 1833, AO has been focused on making eyewear more stylish, more functional, and more accessible. As the oldest optical company in America, their over 150 years in the business exudes excellence as well as a rich history of styles that just work. We want to give you an insight into that history from the 1830s to today…
The first steel wire frames
The first rimless spectacles
In 1833, William Beecher founded American Optical on the belief that “I can do better.” He strove to make eyewear of better quality starting with silver glasses. By 1943, he became the first in the United States to produce eyeglasses from non-precious metal by using a thin steel wire. Using this type of material meant that he could bring the cost of frames down significantly for not only himself, but also for patients. This breakthrough was the first in the way of lower cost spectacles. They took that one step further in the 1870s by making advancements in technology to make eyeglasses affordable for all. This had always been Beecher’s dream to bring accessible eyewear to the working American. At the same time, he was also working on different styles of glasses and pushing the modern edge of spectacles (quite literally!) by producing the first ever rimless frame. Before the 1900s hit, American Optical officially became the largest company in the world with 800 employees producing 2 million pairs of glasses and 3 million pairs of lenses. It’s not hard to see why with their innovative spirit and technologically sounds designs.
AO is the first to supply goggles to the military
Jimmy Doolittle before his transcontinental flight
We at Spectacle think the 1900s is where AO really hit their stride and started to truly shine. It started with WWI, when they supplied the military with eyeglasses by setting up mobile field units to examine the soldiers and fit them with frames and lenses. They also became the first to supply flight goggles to US military pilots. This design later inspired the first aviator sunglasses, a style we spotlight here at Spectacle. Aviation pioneer Jimmy Doolittle wore AO flight goggles in his record-breaking transcontinental flight as well! AO also debuted a new style called the Ful-Vue as a way to give better peripheral vision and revolutionizing the look of eyewear when they moved the temple (or arm of the frame) to the lens top, rather than the center. It was not long before the classic aviator shape that we know and love was born in 1935 when the US Army Air Corps contracted AO to produce a pair of specifically designed sunglasses for aviators.
The next step for AO was to focus on the lenses. They made polarized sunglasses in 1942 when they launched the Cool-Ray sunglasses designed in cooperation with polaroid. As WWII hit, AO kept their allegiance to the US military by supplying over 5 million sunglasses and 10 million goggles! Supreme Allied Commander Dwight Eisenhower and General Mark Clark both wore AO eyewear while leading the US military through some key moments of WWII. The iconic FG-58 style, now known as the Original Pilot took shape in 1958. The style was initially designed for American military pilots, but you can now see celebrities sporting the look, but more on that later!
The Apollo 11 crew was outfitted with AO sunglasses and they became the first sunglasses on the moon
Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver
JFK gave a speech in Southbridge, MA, the original home of American Optical in 1958. He was an extremely loyal fan and customer of AO throughout his life, frequently wearing AO sunglasses and bifocals (seen in the cover photo above). His favorite frame was the Saratoga, a style we can’t get enough of here at Spectacle. In several boating pictures, outings, and to different speeches, JFK can be seen in the Saratoga’s classic shape. Soon after, in 1969, the Original Pilot sunglasses made quite a journey as the first ever sunglasses on the moon! The entire Apollo 11 crew carried the classic shades in their survival kits. You can now see a pair on display at the Smithsonian. After the military, a President of the United States, and astronauts all made American Optical a household name, it only makes sense that celebrities jumped on board too. Several celebrities have been spotted in AO sunglasses out and about as well as on set. In the Taxi Driver movie in 1976, Robert De Niro can be seen wearing the Original Pilots too.
As you can see, the rich history of American Optical is one for the books, or museums! The Optical Heritage Museum opened in 1983 honoring AO’s 150th Anniversary on the site of one of their first factories. It wasn’t until 2019 when the manufacturing moved to Chicago that the re-release of the Original Pilot, General, and Saratoga sunglasses took shape. With this reproduction, we are honored to be able to bring these classics back to life and showcase them at Spectacle Optometry. It astounds us just how much these sunglasses have seen throughout American history. We know these classic styles, globally sourced components, and impeccable engineering are going to push these American Optical frames well beyond their years and into the hands of our patients for generations to come! Be sure to check them out in person the next time you stop in.
