Mod sunglasses - vintage or reproduction?

[Ookoo]

Greetings, wise and wonderful VFG people!

I would like your opinions as to the age of these sunglasses. The black pair have a separate reading lens built into the frame. Inside the temple is printed "6184 Japan Patent Pending."

The Stars and Stripes glasses have chains that loop behind your ears, so the plastic discs look like earrings. No identifying marks.

I've seen similar ones on ebay that were listed as 1960's, but I would like a confirmation if possible.

Thanks for taking the time to look at these, and sharing your expertise!

 

[Jonathan]

The first pair I don't know, the second pair with the stars and stripes - this style has been brought up before here. I know someone found out the companies name and wrote up a bit of the history. They were designed in (I think) 1969 or 1970 and were on sale until 1976ish. I bet yours are meant for the bicentennial! They were drug store novelties, not serious fashion, at the time. However, Ellen Degeneres wore a pair on her show a couple of months back and I sold both pairs I had in my Etsy store in about 5 minutes after the show. However one pair wasn't paid for so I relisted and increased the price because I had at least 4 requests for the pair. I sold it to one of the persons who asked about it for $50. I bet you could do better on yours because of teh Stars and Stripes motif.

 

[dorotheascloset]

those earring glasses are being repro'd like crazy by costume companies.....those look a little more substantial though, so hard to say. The first ones are crazy fantastic....no idea!

Ang

 

[Patentleathershoes]

Could the first ones not have been fashion glasses per se? i.e. they were some sort of glasses to train the eye muscles/therapy or for a specific problem? They look a little more "styled" than some sort of medical device but you never know...

 

[BijouVintage]

Originally posted by Patentleathershoes
Could the first ones not have been fashion glasses per se? i.e. they were some sort of glasses to train the eye muscles/therapy or for a specific problem? They look a little more "styled" than some sort of medical device but you never know...

I thought they looked kinda medical too.. like bifocals missing a lens

 

[Patentleathershoes]

Originally posted by BijouVintage

Originally posted by Patentleathershoes
Could the first ones not have been fashion glasses per se? i.e. they were some sort of glasses to train the eye muscles/therapy or for a specific problem? They look a little more "styled" than some sort of medical device but you never know...

I thought they looked kinda medical too.. like bifocals missing a lens

Well - I thought they were more than merely bifocals because bifocals came in totally split lens with the big line through the middle very early on - the fact that the bifocals are totally seperated from the normal field of vision, etc, made me think that its more than just about being bifocal. But that's just me.

 

[MyVintageCocktail]

Well, this is going to sound perhaps very bizarre, but I wonder if the first pair are for people who wear contact lenses? I used to wear contacts for my near-sightedness, but as I got older I started with the reading problem--had to hold whatever I was reading about a mile from my face. So I ended up sometimes wearing both my contacts and my reading glasses. Finally gave up and just got no-line progressive bifocals, but I can see how a pair of sunglasses like this would have been wonderful for wearing with my contacts. When outside in the sun, if I had needed to read something--map, travel/tourist guide, newspaper, menu, etc., glasses like this would have come in very handy!

I can see how they also might be a medical optical device of some sort, too.