Echoes of the Past: PR drive for eyewear

Echoes of the past travels back to the 1960s this week with a look at the August 1964 issue of Optician’s sister title, Manufacturing Optician. Topical events that August included the premiere of Walt Disney’s Mary Poppins, which went on to win five of the 13 categories it was nominated for at the Academy Awards in 1965.

Today, fashion and eyewear are very much intertwined, but in the 1960s, this wasn’t the case and frames needed something of a PR offensive in an attempt to alter the public’s perception. This PR drive was delivered by the Optical Information Council (OIC), whose successes at the time were outlined in the magazine.