There’s a lot of history behind a pair of sunglasses; more than you think; and with history comes interesting facts.
Here are 11 fun facts about sunglasses:
- Every 14 second someone in the United States breaks, loses, or sits on a pair of sunglasses. So the next time you do any of these actions, don’t feel bad-you are not alone!
- It’s not a confirmed fact, but it’s rumored that Elton John (singer) has over a thousand pairs of sunglasses! Doesn’t sound far-fetched!
- On ebay, every 90 seconds a pair of men’s sunglasses is sold. That’s a lot of sunglasses!
- When Elvis Presley performed at Madison Square Garden in 1972, he wore a killer pair of shades. The King’s sunglasses sold at a whopping $250,000 on eBay, making them the most expensive pair of glasses sold on the online auction site.
- A company called EnChroma Labs originally created glasses for surgeons to use during surgery, but it turns out they also help assist those who suffer from color-vision deficiencies, or color-blindness!
- A millionaire’s accessory, the most expensive pair of sunglasses is Dolce & Gabbana’s DG2027B. They sell for $383,609! You don’t want to lose or break a pair of these!
- In 1929, the first pair of sunglasses (Foster Grants) was sold at the Woolworth on Atlantic City Boardwalk. They were mass-produced and sold by Sam Foster, president of the Foster Grant Company; it was good timing too, because sunglasses became very popular during the 1930’s.
- Oddly enough Seattle sells more sunglasses per capita than any other major city in the United States. Maybe because due to Seattle’s positioning (location-wise) in the Pacific Northwest, the light is different and unique; it has been described as still having a brightness to it, even when it’s gray and cloudy out. The fact that Seattle is very wet doesn’t help either, as it only adds more glare.
- The ancient Inuit tribes are credited with creating the earliest known pair of sunglasses. Wondered how they used as lenses? They would use flattened pieces of walrus ivory that had small slits carved out of the eye sections so it would cut down on the glare from the polar ice.
- Have you ever noticed that in the Matrix most of the characters wore sunglasses? The antagonists wore rectangular lenses, while all of the protagonists wore rounded lenses. Pretty cool!
- In 1936, Edwin H. Land used his Polaroid filter to help him experiment and help him create lenses; he is credited with the creation of the first polarized pair of sunglasses!