By Kelsey Koym, Archivist and Special Collections Librarian
Introduction
In honor of National Eye Exam Month, McGovern Historical Center would like to focus on optical artifacts. Eyes are a sensitive part of the body and are one of the main organs for the sense of sight.
McGovern is highlighting pictures of artifacts from the fascinating A.M. Autrey, Sr., MD, and family papers and other collections. The category is eyes, and there are important ways of protecting them including getting an annual exam to test your vision.
The Glass Eyes
As of the writing of this article, Amazon does not sell prosthetic glass eyes, but once upon a time ago a salesman went door to door or town to town selling these. These glass eyes come from the MS 130 A.M. Autrey, Sr., MD, and family papers. Notice the different shapes, sizes, and eye colors one could try on to select. There’s a whole host of reasons one could lose an eye, and more modern prosthetics are available today.
The View-Finder and Anatomy Slides
According to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History Behring Center, the View-Master was introduced to the public at the New York World’s Fair between 1939-1940. The View-Master over the following decades would evolve from an educational device for adults to a child’s toy. The View-Master would also evolve physically into its well known features that you see in the photograph above and is part of the MS 059 Samuel Dreizen, DDS, MD papers.
This View-Master at the McGovern Historical Center is not just used as a toy. In fact, it was used as initially intended, as an educational device. McGovern also has slides created by David L. Bassett, who was an expert in anatomy and captured the human body via View-Master slides. The slides were intended to be used by medical students to assist with learning anatomy, and they reveal the human body’s veins, arteries, muscles, tissues, tendons, etc. from head to toe.
For assistance with obtaining an eye exam if you are in need check out the Houston Eye Associates Foundation, Prevent Blindness Texas, or the Houston Health Department’s See to Succeed for childcare eye exams and glasses.
References:
https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object/nmah_1129885