Echoes of the Past: Manufacturing setbacks and school eye examinations loom large in October 1975

There was no shortage of activity in the UK optical sector in the mid-1970s judging by this week’s Echoes of the Past.

Manufacturing setbacks, school eye examinations, NHS spectacle frames and tinted screens are among the issues of the day in a news in brief page from Optician in October 1975. The sale of private frames above and beyond NHS collections was a bone of contention for practitioners in Leicestershire. One comments: ‘Put crudely, if we all used NHS frames, opticians would go bust’.

For those sticking with the Department of Health, a look-book of NHS frames is available for just £1 including postage and packaging – not too far away from the cost of a first class stamp alone in today’s money.