Set of five whiskey glasses with commemorative decals celebrating milestones in the development of contact lenses
 Catalogue Number: 1959 Set of five whiskey glasses with commemorative decals celebrating milestones in the development of contact lenses Category: Memorabilia and ephemera Sub-Category: Memorabilia Year Of Publication/Manufacture: 1980? Time Period: 1940 to 1999 Place Of Publication/Manufacture: USA Publisher/Manufacturer: The Plastic Contact Lens Company Description Of Item: Set of five whiskey glasses, diameter 100 mm at top and 107 mm high, each decorated with different gold and black decals commemorating (1) Leonardo Da Vinci who developed the theory of contact lenses in 1500, (2) Galileo Galilei who invented the telescope in 1609, (3) Rene Descates who developed optical theory and described the optics of the cornea in 1637, (4) Benjamin Franklin, who invented bifocals in 1785 and (5) the first blown glass contact lens made in Wiesbaden in 1887. In very small print each glass is inscribed '(logo) (Illegible date 1990? 1980?) The Plastic Contact Lens Company'. Historical Significance: This set of glasses was bought by the owner, Rob Kaye. The glasses were made for the The Plastic Contact Lens Company. This company was one of the first to develop PMMA corneal lenses. It was founded in 1946 by optometrists, Dr. Newton Wesley (1917-2011) and Dr George Jessen (1916-1987), and later became Wesley-Jessen Inc in 1995. It was acquired by 2001 by Ciba Vision. How Acquired: On loan from Robert Kaye, Sydney optometrist and a former fellow of the College Date Acquired: October 2011 Condition: Very good Location: Archive room. West wall. Unit 6 Overhead display |