Framed advertising poster W E Occleshaw

Historical Significance: The date of this item is uncertain. Its style and the dress of the people in the photograph indicate that it dates from the late 1940s to early 1950s. The Green's refractor was the most popular refractor in use in Melbourne in the 1950s (the clinic of the Australian College of Optometry was equipped with them in the 1940s and 1950s) and into later years. It was manufactured by Bausch and Lomb. The patent for the Greens refractor was lodged in 1929 and first manufactured in 1934. The Museum has a manual for it dated 1935. (cat No 1223). This dates the poster to after 1935.The telephone number on the poster, F6068, also gives a further clue as to the date of poster. This number for Occleshaw, optometrist, at 323 Bourke St first appears in the Melbourne telephone directory in November 1930 and changed to FJ 6068 in February 1946. (Data courtesy of Telsra Museum 13.4.2018),This item can be dated at the outside limits of 1934 (when the Greens refactor came onto the market) and February 1946 (when the telephone number on the poster was changed to another number) but more likely between 1935 and 1945.Refractors (also called phorometers or phoropters) were devised in the 1930s -1940s to make refraction quicker than with a trial lens set and trial frame and they also held devices such as Maddox rod and Risley prisms for the measurement of heterophoria. In fact the first phorometers were devised for this latter purpose early in the 20thC. (See Cat no 5, 351 and 550). Spherical and cylindrical lenses on rotary discs were added later.