In the early days antique eyeglasses were sold by peddlers and shopkeepers, who generally had a trial set of 8 to 10 antique eyeglasses from which one could select the prescription most suitable to them. The scientific methods used today to help determine the prescription for ones eyeglasses was still in its infancy, only significantly improving in the late 1800’s, so they had to suffice with the trial and error method of trying on 10 pairs of eyeglasses and finding the one most suitable to them. Obviously the results were not perfect, in line with the medicine in general as it was practiced back then.
Despite the fact that we don’t know with certainty who actually invented eyeglasses, we do know that they became common in the early 14th century. In the early days of antique spectacles they did not know much about Farsightedness or nearsightedness, Astigmatism or Prismatic lenses. Vintage eyeglasses were essentially magnifying glasses to help people read, and therefore catered toward an older and more literate crowd, as opposed to young people or those who could not read as was common back then, who would have no need for eyeglasses.
When one would enter a shop selling antique spectacles they would be looked over, asked their age, and asked to try a pair from each box containing different prescriptions until they found the one that worked best from all the boxes. We have certainly come a long way from those days and have a lot to be grateful for.
Interestingly enough, this method used for antique eyeglasses of selecting and choosing the one that works best is still what is used for choosing the color and style of eyeglasses we wear today. There may come a time when that is scientifically chosen as well based on our exact face dimensions face shape, coloring and style. Perhaps even our palette. Perhaps there will come a time when our style preferences will be scientifically quantified to the point where your google searches will yield results based on what they know you like? To some degree this process has already started. In an era when your phone can start telling you the traffic delays before you even entered your destination, we must not be far away from the day when one will type in “eyeglasses” in their search engine and they will automatically directed to The Vintage Optical Shop, Google or the next company will know what they really want.