Figure 1.--This German boy wear the wire-rim eye glasses commonly worn in the 19th and early-20th centuries. This unidentified boy was photographed around 1920. Note the ear support arms connect about the middle to the lens frame. |
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Eye glasses in Germany followed the same basic chronological pattern as glasses in other countries. We note German boys and girls wearing round wire-frame glasses in the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. There seems to be little change over this extended period in eye glass styling. We do not see many 19th century examples. This may be because eye glasses were less common, but some children may have removed them for the photographic portraits. We do not begin to see other styles of glasses and gender differences until well after World War II in the 1950s. Our information at this time is very limited. We do not know, for example, if there were differences between East and West Germany. In the 1950s we begin to see destinctive styles, both in the shape of the lens and the frame materials. We notice differences between American German styles in the post-War period, but we are not sure if these were destinctive German or more generalized European styles.
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