1835-80 Oval Small Spectacle frame Silver City Silver finish ( Bright silver finish)

Included with purchase is 1800s Slip in Case and Micro Fiber Wipe with our Historic EyeWear Company logo.

The History Behind The Spectacle Style

  Although oval shaped spectacles were available from the beginning of the 1800s, oval shaped spectacles combined with the narrow loop-slide temple appear approximately1835-1836 and their popularity continued through 1900.

These frames were made by hand on an individual basis by spectacle makers who could spend the better part of a day constructing each pair. The slide temple was designed as a one-size-fits-all temple, and when retracted, allowed for a smaller, easier to carry and store spectacle case. Although no primary source information has been discovered, many original spectacles have been found with cord or ribbon tied through the teardrop finals to suggest some use for keeping the spectacles in place. This style was worn by Abraham Lincoln.

 The slip-in spectacle case is also available for purchase separately for those who need a protective case for their antique eyewear. Available on a  short version for Slide temple spectacle and in long version for one piece straight temple spectacles- like our 1845-95 Blue Steel spectacle frame.

~Keep your specs clean with our Historic EyeWear Company micro fiber cleaning cloth which is included with each purchase of spectacle frames.  Using paper, tissues or other means can scratch your lenses. Our cloths are soft and do not scratch lenses.      

Technical details:

 Loop slide temple, teardrop finial, crank or English style bridge,  no nose-pads

Sizes are listed in Inches / Millimeters

End to end:       4 ⅝”/ 177mm

Eye size:      35mm x 25mm

Frame pd / center to center     62mm

Slide Temple length:     4 ⅝" / 112mm to 6½" / 165mm

Photograph below showing the 1835-80 Oval Small Eyeglass frame in Silver City Silver & Tarnished Brass.