Hello, There is an interesting story in the "MassMoments" e-mail this morning ! http://www.massmoments.org:80/moment.cfm?mid=178 ..... In the 1700s and early 1800s, almost all spectacles sold in the United States were imported from Europe, which had a 600-year-old tradition of making glass and crystal lenses to magnify images. When the War of 1812 cut off trade with Great Britain, a Scottish immigrant decided to manufacture his own gold and silver frames and add American-made lenses. The venture was a success, and many jewelers branched out into making frames and lenses. .... Within seven years of his arrival in Southbridge, William Beecher opened a shop above his jewelry store to manufacture spectacles. This part of Beecher's business prospered. He taught one of his apprentices, a 14-year-old boy name Robert Cole, to craft the first steel-framed spectacles made in America. Steel was less expensive than gold or silver, and the steel-framed spectacles were instantly popular. Beecher expanded, and competitors opened other shops nearby. Steel frames were soon outselling all other kinds, and Southbridge became a center of the American spectacle-making industry. When Beecher retired in 1862, Robert Cole took over the firm. .... It makes sense that Old Sturbridge Village re-creates the period in history that gave birth to the American Optical Company. In 1826 William Beecher, a jeweler and watchmaker, settled in Southbridge, a small town on the Massachusetts/Connecticut border. He was part of a relatively new trend - jewelers expanding into the business of spectacle making. Betty (near Lowell, MA) For New Englanders, "Rain, rain, go away; come again another day." :o)