Cat's eye sunglasses - what is the history of sunglasses UV protection? and dating

plousia

plousia

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I was pretty chuffed to find this pair of tortoiseshell cat's eye sunglasses yesterday at Goodwill (all of $1.99). They are pretty scuffed and scratched and have bubbles in the plastic but I don't care, I'm not planning to sell them. But I was wondering, I recall reading somewhere in these forums (I think) that either UVA or UVB protection wasn't added to sunglasses until the 1980s or so? Not sure if I'm remembering that correctly, but my searches on sunglass UV light protection history are turning up nothing. Anyone know about this?

Also, I'm guessing these are either 50s or 60s but are there any indications that could date them more precisely?

Thanks in advance.
 

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The shape of the glasses frame could indicate age! Cat eye glasses/sunglasses were popular in the 50s, in this case is not the shape. I’m leaning towards 60s but I’m not an expert ❤️
 
The Vintage Vendeuse said:
Hi!
I would not call those cat eye glasses as they don't have an upsweep/point at the outer upper edges.
They appear to be fairly modern tortoiseshell-colored plastic to me.
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LOL, now that would certainly be a funny letdown.

Maybe cat eye isn't the right term, but the shape is almost identical to many glasses I've seen being sold as 50s, e.g. this pair: (edit: I've also attached a photo from a better angle to see the eye shape) (second edit: the attached photo isn't really doing it either. I think the closeup distorts angles, because they have a definite upsweep on the sides. Maybe need to take a shot from farther away.)
il_570xN.4040864444_m2cr.jpg


Yes, they certainly are plastic, not tortoiseshell as in actually made from a tortoise. But wouldn't that be the case for most vintage tortoiseshell as well? The pair in the above photo are advertised as being tortoiseshell lucite.

I will certainly get a good laugh if I got all excited over a very beatup pair of modern sunnies :hysterical:
 

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The Vintage Vendeuse said:
Don't take my word about the age, do see what others say. :)

I still don't see the cat's eye shape, however. Yours have a definite downward sweep at the upper/outer edge, the cat's eye shape would sweep upward.
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Just edited my post, I think I need to take a shot from farther away. The closeup seems to be distorting angles because they have a definite upsweep. Will try to take a better photo in a bit.
 
The other thing that made me think these were old, besides the shape and the fact they look like they've been run over by a truck a few times, is that the plastic has bubble inclusions. I'm wondering if that's an indication of age for plastic? I tried doing a search for it and again, came up pretty much empty.
 
Can you take them to an optometrist? They should be able to help with dating. There are differences with older plastics and the new versions, and older tend to be narrower as they're built for smaller faces.

I can't tell the date of these but seeing them in person might help. I always date things as the most recent date possible and on that basis I'd be inclined to think these are vintage-inspired rather than mid century. Condition is not an indicator of age, just treatment.
 
Circa Vintage Clothing said:
Can you take them to an optometrist? They should be able to help with dating. There are differences with older plastics and the new versions, and older tend to be narrower as they're built for smaller faces.

I can't tell the date of these but seeing them in person might help. I always date things as the most recent date possible and on that basis I'd be inclined to think these are vintage-inspired rather than mid century. Condition is not an indicator of age, just treatment.
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Yes, I can try taking them to an optometrist. They certainly could be vintage-inspired, hard to tell. The plastic and style "seem" old, for example as mentioned the plastic has several bubble inclusions which I can't recall seeing in modern plastics. And they just generally seem to have age. Agreed condition is not an indication but it's hard to imagine how a modern item could have gotten so worn and scratched in a few years. Who knows, at least for $2 I didn't lose out if they are not vintage!
 
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