ABSTRACT
Sunglasses go back as far as the ancient Chinese, who, it has been passed down, shielded their eyes from the sun with tea crystals. The next notable advance came when British opticians began making a primitive version out of green glass in the sixteenth century. The industry reached a major turning point with the development of the green Ray-Ban aviator sunglasses by Bausch & Lomb in the 1920s in response to the request of the US Army Air Corps for fliers' goggles that would absorb the glare of the sun. The Hollywood film industry played a key role in glamorizing sunglasses. In addition to providing protection from the bright southern California sun, shades enabled well-known stars like Greta Garbo, Katharine Hepburn, and Gary Cooper avoid eye contact with or recognition by an adoring public. The plastic-framed Wayfarer model proved to be the hottest performer of the 1980s brought out by Ray-Ban in 1952. The future remains bright for sunglasses.
