Echoes of the Past: How opticians sold sunglasses to patients

Sunglass sales can be a problem for an optician. Competition comes from many angles, including the internet and high street retail and department stores – squeezing margins significantly. But opticians are in a prime position to advise patients on the functional side of sunglasses, as the dispensing pointer article in the June 11 issue of Optician from 1965 shows.

The article begins with a straw poll of prescription houses who had been working on sunglass lenses that particular spring. The lack of tinting business was in stark contrast to the several millions of British holidaymakers who would, over the course of the summer, venture abroad – where the sun light experienced would differ greatly from that of at home.