Early history of contact lenses (in Australia): John Strachan recollections

Historical Significance: John Strachan was a Melbourne optometrist who from the mid 1950s specialised in contact lenses at his practice in Collins Street, Melbourne and was one of the pioneers of contact lenses in Australia. He qualified in optometry at the Australian College of Optometry obtaining his LOSc diploma in 1949. He subsequently travelled to London where he completed his Fellowship of the British Optical Association with honours (FBOA HD) and also completed the course leading to the Certificate of Contact Lens Practice (CCLP). He fitted scleral contact lenses using the moulding technique and was among the first in Australia to do so. Earlier contact lens practitioners such as Melbourne optometrist Ernst Goetz used trial lens sets. He taught contact lenses in the Australian/Victorian College of Optometry from 1955 to 1974. This document is an unedited account of the manufacture of contact lenses firstly by 'cottage' industry manufacturers in Australia (which are listed and discussed) who were subsquently challenged by multi-national companies using mass production methods.