Orbost & District Historical Society
spectacles and spectacle cases, late 19th early 20th century
... spectacles spectacles-cases pinz-nez.... spectacles spectacles-cases pinz-nez A A Abotomey 14 Carpenter Street ...
This collection of glasses and cases was donated by Miss Connie Cruickshank. She was part of the family of Orbost's first doctor, Dr James Kerr.
As the 19th Century came to a close, more and more people wore their eyeglasses everyday. A popular style of inexpensive, everyday spectacles was the pince-nez. French for "pinch nose," the pince-nez was first developed in France circa 1840 and began to be imported after the 1850s.
Pince-nez have no temples, but are fit snugly on the bridge of the nose. Pince- nez could be uncomfortable to wear and broke often from falling off the nose.
These items demonstrate how glasses' styles have changed over time. One pair of pince-nez glasses and its brown leather case shaped to fit. One solid black wooden case with a small hinged door at one end. One blue/black case with the words A A Abotomey 14 Carpenter Street Middle Brighton in gold lettering. Five pairs of spectacles, one with blue coloured glass with crack in one lens.A A Abotomey 14 Carpenter Street, Middle Brightonspectacles spectacles-cases pinz-nez