Category: Artifact Corner

Hi Everyone, and welcome back to another artifact corner. Today we will be looking at a very special book. This is the Williams’s New York Annual Register for 1831. This book has a leather spine, and a printed paper over board cover. The leather spine of the book is tooled and lettered in gilt. The book was printed by Jonathan Seymour, a fairly well known printer in New York City. This book is in quite good condition even though it’s almost two hundred years old. Let’s explore a bit more about the New York Annual Register.

The New York Annual Register was designed to be a guide for people of business in the 19th Century. In a newspaper advertisement from 1836, the sellers boasted that, “It is a work of general reference. The professional man constantly requires it, the man of business should never be without it, and to the statesman and political economist, desirous of procuring correct data, it is invaluable.” This book contains a myriad of subjects from civil and judicial appointments, agricultural forecast, land valuations, town and village populations, merchant locations, and advertisements, just to name a few. In the same newspaper advertisement it claims to inform the reader of “the names, Masters, &c. Of packet ships owned in the city of New York, steamboats employed on the North and East Rivers, Long Island Sound, and the lakes; with other useful information not contained in previous volumes.” The book also contained historical facts. You can see at the bottom of this page that it says, “Oct. 1, 1807 First successful application of steam to the purpose of navigation, in a voyage from N. York to Albany, by Robt. Fulton, in the Steamboat Clermont.” We’ve done another artifact corner video on Fulton if you’d like to learn a bit more about him and his steamboats.

This particular book was owned by Henry Webb, the husband of Frances Henrietta Delord Webb. Henry Webb and his family were merchants. Henry specialized in crockery, porcelain wares, and home goods. He had a store on State Street in Albany in the 1830’s and 1840’s. In the 1830’s there was just as much of a desire for goods from around the world as there is today. In order to get goods from around the world, he needed to know other merchants, ships masters, etc. This book would have proved to be very useful for a store owner in the 1830’s. The book also provided the total revenues from not only New York State, but also the country as a whole. This information was important for predicting economic downturns, or shifts in foreign and domestic imports and exports.

We are very fortunate that today, if we have a question, we can simply look it up online. Our predecessors did not have that luxury. This book was a valuable source of information on a large variety of topics, all in one place. While I have not been able to find what the price was for the 1831 volume that we have in our collections the cost for the 400 page volume that was published in 1836 was $1.50, which is about $45 today. Given the amount of data that needed to be collected for this book, I think that’s a very fair price. This is a fantastic book that gives us a really in depth look at the state of business in the early 1830’s. Thanks so much for stopping by.

Music: Acoustic Breeze by Benjamin Tissot www.bensound.com

Hi Everyone, and welcome back to another artifact corner. March is Women’s History month, and to commemorate that, we will be spending this entire month focused on the stories of women. Today’s artifact is a medicinal product created by the last member of our family to live in our home, Fannie Webb Hall. Let’s explore Fannie’s life, and her invention, Fanoline.

Frances Delord Webb was born in Albany on the 11th of February, 1834. She was a healthy and happy baby girl. Sadly, her birth was extremely difficult for her mother, also named Frances. Fannie’s mother contracted child bed fever, and less than a month after Fannie’s birth, her mother passed away. Her father Henry, now a widower, decided that it would be best for Fannie to spend the first few years of her life with her grandmother, Betsey. Fannie’s early childhood was spent in Plattsburgh, being dotted upon by her loving grandmother. At the age of four, Fannie moved to CT with her Aunt to start her formal education. Her father wanted only the best for his young daughter. Fannie’s upbringing stressed service, caring, and devotion to faith, which was common for young women in the mid 1800’s. She was a good student and an avid reader. She continued to visit her grandmother in Plattsburgh, but not as often as Betsey would like.

On October 12, 1846, Fannie’s father Henry passed away at the age of just 51. Fannie writes to her Grandmother about the loss of her dad stating: “I am left an orphan. But I have many kind friends who I know love me. But no one can fill a father’s place.” This, coupled with the loss of her mother must have effected Fannie deeply. Thankfully her Aunt and Grandmother did their best to console Fannie, and she grew into a compassionate and intelligent woman. Frances completed five years at Hartford Female Seminary, and then another year in Philadelphia at a French finishing school. It was around this time that she met her future husband, Frank Hall. Frank was in seminary school, and the young couple had to wait three years before Frank graduated and they could be wed. On May 14, 1856 the two were married in Hartford, CT.

In the subsequent years, Frank and Fannie endured many trials. Frank served as a chaplain in the Civil War, leaving Fannie on her own. By 1863, Frank and Fannie had moved to Plattsburgh. Fannie cared for Betsey and her step father William in their final years. William passed away in January of 1864, and her beloved grandmother Betsey died on May 23, 1870. Now, Fannie focused on making herself useful to the residents of the city of Plattsburgh. Fannie studied medical books extensively. She devoured all of the latest medical texts, and used that information to help the less fortunate of the city. She opened a section of the home up to the public, and treated those who could not afford to go to a doctor. She never charged for her services, and was always willing to help anyone in need. It was her interest in medicine, and philanthropy that lead to her creating Fanoline.

So, what is Fanoline? Fanoline is a kind of all purpose ointment meant to soothe skin irritation. On the back of the container it states that this can be used to treat, “Eczema, Fever-sores, Piles, Burns, Corns, Sore eyes, Chapped hands and lips,” just to name a few. It also boasted to be an antiseptic, and could be applied to wounds before bandaging. Like many things in the late Victorian and early Edwardian period, this was touted to be a multipurpose product. Some of the ingredients include Spermaceti (which is a whale oil), paraffin wax, and almond extract. Fannie and Frank created Fanoline, and produced it in their home. It was marketed from 1890 to 1900, and sold well throughout Upstate NY and all of New England. A 25 oz container of Fanoline sold for just 25 cents.

Fannie cared deeply about helping people. Her creation of Fanoline was an extension of her desire to ease pain, and better the lives of those around her. She continued to care for her fellow neighbors and friends until her death on October 4, 1913. Fannie devoted her life to the service of others, and in doing so, left a legacy of selflessness and care. We are so lucky to still have some remaining boxes of Fanoline, a testament to a remarkable woman. Thanks for spending March with us, and learning about some of the professions and individual women that we owe an immense debt of gratitude to. Thanks so much for stopping by.

Music: Acoustic Breeze by Benjamin Tissot, www.bensound.com

Hi everyone, and welcome back to another Artifact Corner. March is Women’s History month, and to commemorate that, we will be spending this entire month focused on the stories of women. The artifact that we will be looking at today is a very special portrait of a woman in our extended family. This is a portrait of Mehitable Nott Webb Deane, painted in 1767 by artist William Johnstone. Mehitable was the mother of Jospeh Webb, Jr., who was the father of Henry Webb. Henry Webb married our Frances Henrietta Delord, and their daughter, Fannie Webb Hall was the last member of our family to live in the house. In this portrait, we see Mehitable with her son, Jesse, who is aged about two years. Mehitable is wearing a glorious gown, most likely made of silk, in a rich earth tone. You can see how the artist has used shading to suggest the sheen of the fabric, and the beautiful draping in the skirt. Let’s learn a bit more about Mehitable and her life.

Mehitable was born in Wethersfield, Connecticut in 1732. Wethersfield was founded in 1634 by a group of puritan men, and quickly grew to be a commercial and shipping hub in New England. Mehitable’s father was a sea captain, involved in trade in the British colonies. The other major industry in Wethersfield in the 1730’s was the growing of red onions. A common saying at the time was that you could “smell Wetherfield before you could see it.” This was the town Mehitable was born into. In 1749 she married a prosperous merchant named Joseph Webb, Sr. They built a large and beautiful house in 1752, and settled into married life. Mehitable gave birth to six children, three boys and three girls. Sadly, in 1761, after 12 years of marriage, Joseph died at the age of 34. Mehitable was now alone with six children to care for.

Life for a single mother in the 18th Century was challenging to say the least. Mehitable continued raising her six children, and kept the home and family business running. Mehitable contracted the services of a lawyer to help her manage the family affairs named Silas Deane. Deane was new to Wethersfield, and an ambitious young man. Two years after Joseph’s passing, Mehitable and Silas Deane were married. A year after they were married, Mehitable gave birth to their first child together, a boy named Jesse. And now we arrive back at the portrait of Mehitable. There is a story behind this painting, that is not only intriguing, but also quite sad.
How much of this story is fact and how much is fiction is hard to fully know. But the legend that has been passed down with this painting is compelling. The story is as follows:

Mehitable and her new husband, Silas, commissioned portraits by William Johnstone. Silas’s painting was completed and Mehitable’s was not. As Johnstone was working on Mehitable’s portrait, she was consistently losing weight, and becoming more gaunt. Mehitable was dying of consumption, or tuberculosis. One of the tell tale signs of this disease was dramatic weight loss. You can see the halo around her face, and the legend states that this was because every time Johnstone had Mehitable sit for him, he would have to repaint her face due to her weight loss. Johnstone never finished this portrait of Mehitable. She likely passed away before he was able to complete it, and Mehitable’s portrait was tucked away, until it was passed down to her great granddaughter, Fannie Webb Hall. Fannie and her husband moved into our home in Plattsburgh, and Mehitable’s portrait came to live in Plattsburgh.

Mehitable died in 1767, at the age of just 35. She left behind seven children. Her eldest child was 18, and her youngest was just 3 at the time of her death. Her eldest son went on to fight in the American Revolution, and was George Washington’s aide-de-camp. Her children and grandchildren went on to be well educated and successful members of early American life who moved in very influential circles. This is a very large and impressive portrait for the time. This piece is in fantastic condition, and a prized artifact in our collections. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Music: Acoustic Breeze by Benjamin Tissot, www.bensound.com

Hi Everyone, and welcome back to another artifact corner. March is Women’s History month, and to commemorate that, we will be spending this entire month focused on the stories of women. Our artifact this week is something that would have been in almost every home for hundreds of years, a butter churn. Our butter churn is made by the Haxstun Ottman Company from Fort Edward, NY. This piece of pottery is easily date-able, because the Haxstun Ottoman Company only lasted for five years, from 1867 to 1872. It is a stone glazed jug with a wooden lid and plunger for agitating the cream. Let’s take a look at the making of butter, and women’s roles in processing raw materials.

Life on a farm was very hard work. The divisions of labor meant that women were almost always responsible for making food for the family. While today we can simply go to the grocery store and buy the ingredients needed to make dinner, a woman two hundred years ago had a much harder time putting dinner on the table. One of the many tasks that fell to women was the making of butter. Milk and cream are very perishable items, especially when you have no system of refrigeration. Turning the cream into butter and meant it could last longer in your families larder. When making butter, you will add salt, which is a natural preservative.

So, how does one turn cream into butter? Making butter requires a little bit of preparation. First and foremost, your churn and any other tools you will be using must be clean. To clean your butter churn, you can make a 50/50 mixture of white vinegar and warm water. Scrub your churn thoroughly. The cream that you will be turning to butter needs to be at room temperature, between 55 to 65 degrees. If the temperature is too high, the butter will be loose and not separate fully from the buttermilk. Once your churn is clean, and your cream is up to temperature, it’s time to start churning. Do not fill up your churn more than 2/3’s full, because your butter will fluff up a bit in the churn. The average time to churn butter is about 30 minutes of nonstop and rapid motion, which can be very tiring for the person churning it.

Once the butter has become firm, it is important to rinse the butter. The butter should be placed in a bowl and stirred in cold water, repeating this process until the water remains clear. This removes any remaining buttermilk, which can cause the butter to spoil more easily. Now you can place your butter in a mold or any other small container. Butter can last as long as two weeks without refrigeration, as long as it is kept in a cool place. It was often consumed before it had the opportunity to go bad.

Women would churn butter, make bread, make beer, and all of the other staples of life on a regular basis. Each of these processes was time consuming and labor intensive, but utterly necessary for keeping the family running. You too can churn your own butter today, but it would be much easier to use a modern stand mixer. Our butter churn is in lovely condition, with beautiful hand painted blue foliage on the side. It hearkens back to a time when a woman work feeding her family, was never fully done. Thanks so much for stopping by.

Music: Acoustic Breeze by Benjamin Tissot, www.bensound.com

Hi Everyone, and welcome back to another artifact corner. March is Women’s History month, and to commemorate that, we will be spending this entire month focused on the stories of women. Today we will be looking at an industry that employed more than half of working women in the 19th and early 20th Centuries, the domestic service industry. Our artifact for this week is a brass Victorian table top service bell. There is a floral motif on the base of the service bell, and there is a push lever with a spring wrapped hinge that allows the bell to ring. This bell would have been rung to summon a servant or caretaker. Let’s take a look at what life was like for women in the service industry in the 19th and very early 20th Centuries.

Throughout history, women have tended to the needs of homes and families. Today’s arrangement of women holding down full time jobs, raising a family, and tending to the home are an absolute historical anomaly. Even the impoverished characters in historical literature had their domestic help, and would not have been expected to clean their own homes. People with even small means would have domestic servants. This was made possible by the abundant number of unskilled laborers in the US during this time. Even someone with little to no education, such as women and children, could become a domestic servant. For the people joining this workforce, there were no guidelines or protections for employees. In 1912 a domestic servant with decades of experience in the industry anonymously published an account of life as “hired help.” She writes;

“There is often no Sunday out until after four and no evening out until after eight. Foreign girls do not go into housework for this reason. They prefer the fixed hours of factory and shop work. Ladies are sometimes not honest in money matters concerning the girls they employ. I have known many nice girls to work for little money—two dollars and a half or three dollars a week—and one week out of every five or six the lady would forget, or pretend to forget, to pay for. If the girl has given no written receipt for her wages, she sometimes has no proof of what is due her.”

To put this into context, that meant working seven days a week for a wage of $2.50. In todays money, that would mean that you were working seven days a week for $68.84. And even then, according to the author, you might not even be paid fairly every week.

House work in the 19th Century was very labor intensive. The people doing the work of maintaining the home had none of the modern convinces that we have today. No vacuum cleaners, dishwashers, modern cooking appliances, washing machines, or even hot water on demand. If you could afford to hire help, you would. A family with modest means would hire a “maid of all work.” This single woman was responsible for all of the cooking, cleaning, and creature comforts of the family she was caring for. A woman named Hanna Cullwick kept a journal of her life in domestic service from 1853 to 1893. In one entry, she describes her average day;

“Opened the shutters & lighted the kitchen fire. Shook my sooty thing in the dusthole & emptied the soot there. Swept & dusted the rooms & hall. Laid the hearth and got breakfast up. Clean’d 2 pairs of boots. Made the beds & emptied the slops. Clean’d and washed the breakfast things up. Clean’d the plate, clean’d the knives & got dinner up. Clean’d away. Clean’d the kitchen up; unpack’d a hamper. Took two chickens to Mrs Brewer’s & brought the message back. Made a tart & pick’d and gutted two ducks & roasted them. Clean’d the steps & flags on my knees. Blackheaded the scraper in front of the house; clean’d the street flags too on my knees. Wash’d up in the scullery. Clean’d the pantry on my knees and scour’d the tables. Scrubbed the flags around the house & clean’d the window sills. Got tea for the Master and Mrs. Warwick…Clean’d the privy & Passage & scullery floor on my knees. Wash’s the dog & cleaned the sinks down. Put the supper ready for Ann to take up, for I was too dirty & tired to go upstairs. Wash’d in a bath & to bed.”

From Hanna’s own words we can see that she did all of this in a day, and she was not the only servant in the home, because she says that Ann took the supper up, because she was too dirty. It’s clear that life for the average woman in the service industry was very long, very hard, and not financially rewarding.

Maids were meant to do all of their work quietly and out of site, and because of this, their contributions to our society have been overlooked. We owe a debt of gratitude to these women for keeping our world running. Our service bell is a small reminder of the hard work and dedication of so many women. Thanks so much for stopping by.

Music: Acoustic Breeze by Benjamin Tissot, www.bensound.com

Hi everyone and welcome back to another artifact corner. Today we will be looking at a backgammon game from the early to mid 1800’s. This game board has an oriental motif on the exterior, and beautiful gold and red painted points on the interior. We still have the original checkers and dice for the game. Let’s explore the game of backgammon.

Backgammon is a two player game. Each player starts with fifteen playing pieces, which are small and round and look like checkers. The game pieces have many names, including draughts, stones, men, counters, pawns, discs, pips, chips, or nips. To win the game, a player must move all of their pieces off the board before their opposition. The average game of backgammon lasts for about an hour of play.

Backgammon is one of the oldest games in history. The first games of backgammon are believed to be played as far back as 3,000 BCE. The game likely originated in Mesopotamia, what is modern day Iraq, Kuwait, Turkey, and Syria. In 2004, one of the oldest boards was discovered in the province of Sistan-Baluchistan (Ba-low-chis-tawn) in the South Eastern part of Iran. The board is made of ebony, with checker pieces made of agate and turquoise stones. The second oldest backgammon board was discovered during a dig at a royal tomb in the historic Mesopotamian city of Ur. The Sumerians built the city of Ur in 3,800 BCE and the city thrived for over 3,000 years. The Sumerians are also credited with the creation of the wheel, the first written language called cuneiform, and the first known system of math.

Backgammon quickly spread throughout the early civilizations. People throughout China, India, Greece, Egypt, and Rome started playing backgammon, and it became immensely popular. In certain societies it was only played by the aristocracy or nobility which lead to it being nicknamed “the game of kings.” In the Middle Ages, backgammon spread throughout Europe. The first use of the name “backgammon” appears in literature in the 1600’s, but the exact origin is unclear. It may have come from the Middle English words baec, spelled b a e c, meaning “back,” and the word gamen, spelled g a m e n, meaning “game.” The famous writer of games, Edmond Hoyle, published a treatise on backgammon in 1745 with a set of rules, and even some strategy tips, that are still used to this day.

Our backgammon board is in fantastic shape retaining all of it’s original game pieces. The intricate gold work on the sides of the board are also in beautiful condition. We are so lucky to have this piece in our collections. We hope you enjoyed this look back at one of the oldest board games. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Music: Acoustic Breeze by Benjamin Tissot, www.bensound.com

Hi Everyone, and welcome back to another artifact corner. As we are approaching Valentine’s Day, we thought it would be fun to look at a very romantic day in our home’s history, a wedding. In 1832 the family prepared for the marriage of the Delord’s only daughter, Frances. At just 18 years old, Frances was marrying a merchant named Henry Livingston Webb. They were married in the Gold Parlor room of our home, and by all accounts it was a very happy day. Let’s take a look at weddings in the 1830’s, and how they changed during the Victorian Era.

In the 1830’s weddings were still a very intimate affair. Most weddings took place in the home, and the number of attendees was limited to the size of the space. This was ubiquitous amongst the classes, from the well to do to the poor, weddings most often occurred in the family home. Church weddings started to gain popularity by the 18-teens to the 1820’s, but being married in your parents home remained popular throughout the entire 19th Century. Most weddings were held mid week, with Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday being the easiest days to schedule. Frances and Henry were married on a Wednesday. This was born of necessity, since most ministers and pastors were quite busy with church services on the weekends.

So, what did the bride wear for her special day? It was common for women in the early 19th Century to simply wear their best gown as their wedding dress. If their best dress was a bit too plain, women would add extra lace and trim to spruce up the gown. The color of the gown was not important. Any color was acceptable for a wedding dress. In 1840 Queen Victoria married Prince Albert, and wore a stunning white wedding gown. Illustrations from her wedding traversed the globe, and influenced fashion in a major way. Thanks to her white dress, now brides wanted to wear white on their wedding day, shunning colorful gowns. Queen Victoria’s wedding dress still influences bridal fashion to this day more than 150 years later.

Our Frances Henrietta was a bride ahead of her time. In 1832, Frances wore a white wedding dress with a blue sash around her waist. Betsey Delord (Frances’ Mother) hired a Mantua maker, or dress maker, for her daughter’s wedding attire. The wedding dress, silk flower bouquet, and leather shoes that Francis wore cost $47.19, which is the equivalent of $2,731.24 in todays money. The silk lace overdress, the satin under dress, and the fabric for the silk flower bouquet were imported from Paris. Frances’ friend Anne Moore was her bridesmaid, and Henry’s brother John Webb was his best man for their special day.

The wedding dress, bouquet, and her leather wedding shoes are very fragile and delicate artifacts in our collections. While we have a number of paintings of Frances, her actual garments can tell us so much more about her. Her dress and her slippers highlight just how slight a person she was. She was petit in every sense of the word, and that’s not something a painting can really show us. That’s what makes textile artifacts, like clothing, so important for understanding the people we study. We have a number of garments in our collections spanning a hundred years of history and fashion. Each artifact is a unique and revealing puzzle piece that tells us so much about the person who wore it. We hope you enjoyed this look back at nuptials in the 1800’s. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Music: Acoustic Breeze by Benjamin Tissot, www.bensound.com

Hi everyone, and welcome back to another Artifact Corner. Today we will be looking at a beautiful pair of Victorian Candlesticks and a glass oil lamp. The candlesticks are metal with a painted ceramic middle. Each one has a handle, making them easier to carry around the home. The oil lamp is blown glass, and has a hole in the top and a pierced slit in the side. The hole in the top is for filling the oil lamp, and the slit in the side is where a wick would be placed. While the candlesticks are designed to be portable, the oil lamp is not. These are just a couple of pieces that we have in our collections that were designed to light the home. When the home was built in 1797, they obviously did not have electricity, and lighting was essential for everyday life.

So, let’s take a look at how people have been lighting their homes throughout our history. Around 20,000 years ago we have archaeological evidence of stone oil lamps. They were shallow stone bowls carved with a small groove in the side to hold a wick. They burned animal fats in them. The fats smelled unpleasant, and the fat smoked quite a bit when burned. Overall, not an awfully pleasant way to light your home. The Romans are thought to be the inventors of the dipped candle. With a dipped taper candle, you can throw off much more light than the small stone, smokey oil lamps. In the Middle Ages, beeswax candles were the most desirable form of light, but were terribly expensive. They not only gave off a clean clear light, but the smell is very pleasant. The only people who could really afford them though were the monasteries, and the super wealthy. The average person used what was known as a rushlight. A rush light was a rush or reed soaked in melted animal fat. When it cooled and dried it could be lit and would produce a bright, albeit smokey and smelly flame. The rushlights also burned far faster than a beeswax candle, but they were cheep to make, and therefore commonly used.

In 1780 French chemist Ami Argand invented a new type of oil lamp that could produce as much as 10 candles worth of light. This style was incredibly popular, in both table top and wall mounted designs. In 1807 gas lights were coming into common use, but mostly for outdoor lighting. It wasn’t until the 1840’s that some wealthy homes had gaslights installed. Gas lighting was novel, and as it turns out incredibly dangerous. The gas lights emitted carbon monoxide, which is both odorless and colorless, and therefore incredibly hard to detect.

In 1882 Thomas Edison helped to form the Edison Electric Illuminating Company. This helped the wealthy of Manhattan have safer lighting options. It was slow to take off though, and by 1925, only half of Americans had electricity in their homes. The other half, still lighting the dark nights with lamps, candles, or gas lights.

Our home was built in late 1700’s, and the whole time it was a family home, it was lit by flame. Rooms in homes built before the use of electric light often tried to capitalize on natural light. Often they built with large windows, and many of them. They also relied on fire for heat, and fireplaces were another source of light in the evenings, so a centrally placed hearth also helped to brighten a room. These candlesticks were clearly meant to be moved around, shining a light for the person holding it. The oil lamp was likely used on a desk, or table to help someone writing a letter or maybe playing a game. We hope you enjoyed this look back and found it illuminating, pun intended. Thanks so much for stopping by.

Music: Acoustic Breeze by Benjamin Tissot, www.bensound.com

Hi Everyone, and welcome back to another artifact corner. Today we will be looking at a pair of eye glasses. We have more than 20 pairs of eye glasses in our collections, ranging in date from the early 1800’s up to the early 20th Century. Given that all of the members of our family were all avid readers and enthusiastic letter writers, it’s not surprising they had so many pairs of glasses. Let’s explore the fascinating history of eye glasses.

People have always had vision problems, and have been searching for ways to improve that since the dawn of time. Many different cultures have realized that using certain glasses could help to magnify small things. The Roman’s noticed that glass spheres could enlarge text written on a page, and magnifying glasses became quite common in Rome. This was a very useful discovery, but meant that you had to carry this glass around with you, if you needed help reading small text. While this was a major advancement, there was obviously room for improvement. The first wearable eyeglasses were developed in Pisa, in Northern Italy, in the 1280’s or the 1290’s. Glass makers realized that they could scale down magnifying glasses and adjust the thickness of the glass to calibrate the glasses for the wearer. In 1305 a Dominican Friar named Giordano da Pisa delivered a sermon, and a line from it discusses eye glasses. He states, “It is not yet twenty years since there was found the art of making spectacles, which make for good vision.” This new technology allowed monks and scholars to continue their work, even as their vision changed after years of toiling over manuscripts in dim light. These early glasses perched on the wearers nose, and were made from wood, bone, or leather.

These early glasses were quite costly, and therefore the average person in the Middle Ages could not afford them, they were really reserved for the wealthy and the clergy. Over the next four hundred years, the technology changed little. The next big break through in glasses came in the 1700’s. Up until this point, eyeglasses were either hand held, or perched on the nose. This was fine if you were sitting, or staying stationary, but not practical for a person on the move. In the 1720’s sides were added to spectacles, allowing the wearer to have them on at all times. This is the first time in history that eye glasses resemble what we know them to be today. Also at this time, the glasses themselves were refined. In the past, the only classification for the “prescription” was “old” or “young.” Now, the glasses maker could change the optics of the lens. Around 1730 Edward Scarlett of Soho advertised that he ‘Grindeth all manner of Optick Glasses (and) makes spectacles after a new method, marking the Focus of the Glass upon the Frame, it being approv’d of by all the Learned in Opticks as [the] Exactest way of fitting different Eyes’.

At some point in the century, possibly as early as the 1760s, London opticians began producing split lenses. At first these lenses were for the use of artists, but they developed into the first bifocals, allowing a single spectacle frame to perform the dual functions of an aid to both reading and distance vision. The frames for glasses were also seeing a change. While wood, horn, and leather were still being used, now eye glasses were being set in steel, making them far more durable. In the 19th Century, nose spectacles, or glasses without arms, were still in use, but considered very old fashioned. Ophthalmic optician John Browning wrote in 1889 about the advances of the 19th Century. He wrote as follows;

“Invisible spectacles and folders have two advantages: they are of the lightest construction that can be made to act efficiently, and the lenses cannot come out of the frames because the frames are smaller than the lenses, rims being let into the glass, and thus rendered invisible to any one in front of those who wear them; but as they are so light they should only be of the best materials and workmanship. And here I must warn my readers against confounding these invisible spectacles and folders with the so-called ‘frameless’ spectacles and folders. As now generally made and supplied, these are a disgrace to the optician’s art. The springs, sides, and loops in these wretched things are riveted directly onto the glasses, while the glasses are frequently twice as thick on one side as they are on the other.”

Most of the glasses we have in our collection are from the 19th Century. It was an age of improvement, and attempt to correct people’s vision in a more personal way. We have many different styles and prescriptions in our collections, which is indicative of how peoples vision changed over time. In the 18th and 19th Centuries, rather than being given a single pair of glasses to last you a lifetime, you could now expect your prescription to adjust as your eyes did with age. We are so fortunate to have these great examples of a very important medical improvement to everyday life. Thanks so much for stopping by.

Music: Acoustic Breeze by Benjamin Tissot, www.bensound.com