It is official; sunglasses have a day of their own… June 27th will now be considered the day to wear sunglasses all day/night. And what can be better than having an actual excuse to look cool and rock a pair of sunglasses for an entire day? Here at ShadesDaddy.com we say – nothing!
To honor our favorite holiday, we thought we’d include a tune to match the awesomeness of this day: Corey Hart’s – Sunglasses at Night: is the perfect match.
While dancing to this classic 80’s song, here’s a little history about how sunglasses became about.
It all began in prehistoric times, when Inuit peoples wore flattened walrus ivory “glasses,” looking through narrow slits to block harmful reflected rays of the sun. [See picture]
Subsequently, Nero, the Roman emperor of AD 54 liked to watch gladiator fights with polished emeralds. After that, the first resemblance to sunglasses appeared in 12th century China made from flat panes of smoky quartz which offered no corrective powers but did protect the eyes from the sun’s glare. They were used mostly by judges in ancient Chinese courts to conceal their facial expressions while questioning witnesses. Then in 1400’s, Italian courts also adopted this tradition.
In 1750’s, an English optician and designer of scientific instruments, James Ayscough, began experimenting with tinted lenses in spectacles which he believed would correct certain vision problems. During this time, protection from sun’s UV rays was not important since the effects of harmful sunrays hadn’t been discovered yet.
By the turn of the 20th century, sunglasses started to become more of a widespread after silent movie actors began wearing them while filming to shield their eyes from the bright stage lights. Soon after that, the trend stretched out to constantly using sunglasses to avoid recognition from fans.
Inexpensive, mass-production of shades was introduced to America by Sam Foster in 1929 when he found a ‘ready’ market on the beaches of Atlantic City, NJ to whom he sold sunglasses to under the name of Foster Grant from a Woolworth on the Boardwalk.
Polarized lenses first became available in 1936 when Edwin H. Land began experimenting and manufacturing lenses with his patented Polaroid filter.
They became a sensation and an object of fashion trends after World War II when photographs came out of prominent military figures such as General MacArthur wearing sunglasses. Since then, sunglasses have grown in popularity to such an extent that people now use them during the nighttime as well just to accessorize their outfits.
Join us in celebration by purchasing any of these classic iconic Ray Ban RB3447 Sunglasses, available today through June 27th. Enter code 62711 to get 15% instantly on this product!
