Whilst I adjust to my new glasses, I thought it would be fun to find out more about their story, and to celebrate a few of their wearers. And I was surprised that it was not too hard to find them.
So our first clue, on Saturday the 30th of May, was of Edgar Davids, who suffered a severe head injury in 1995 and was diagnosed with glaucoma four years later. The important link to our story is that after his surgery he was not told to stop playing football, but advised to wear protective sports goggles when he was on the pitch. The only problem was that this was not in the rule book, but, staggeringly, FIFA agreed. Now it is said that this made him the first player ever allowed to wear glasses during a game, but I`m not so sure about that. Maybe you know of some though, and can tell me!
Our second card, on Sunday the 31st of May, actually showed a spectacled sportsman, whereas the card above was from a time before Edgar Davids was diagnosed with glaucoma, though you can get later cards which show him with glasses on. However, this card, of W.E. Bowes, was chosen because it actually says in the reverse text "wears spectacles whilst playing". It appears that this was simply because he was nearsighted, which, as it says, makes items that are further away seem out of focus, they only become visible as they come nearer. The main problem with this is that to compensate without special glasses the sufferer ends up squinting, straining their eyes, and getting headaches.
Our card for Monday the 1st of June was this week`s red herring, for it is a snake which is known as the spectacled cobra. That refers to the white marking on the back of its hood, two circles connected by a curved line, which, if you look at it upside down, resembles a pair of glasses with just a nose clip, but without any arms. And that is how eyeglasses truly began, with what were technically a pair of magnifying glass style lenses, riveted together so that they held at the nose and balanced over it.
On which note, as always, and especially this week, if anyone else would like to send us any information or scans from their collection which relates in any way to our theme of the week, please do - simply email us at webmaster@card-world.co.uk - and this is the same for any corrections, or for general cartophilic correspondence and chat.