subject: The History Of Ray Ban Sunglasses [print this page] The company that makes Ray Ban sunglasses was founded in 1937 as a manufacturer of protective eye wear. They are now known for their much imitated sunglasses designs, the Aviator (which are issued free of charge to United States Air Force pilots) and the Wayfarer. There are many people today who prefer solid built, quality sunglasses from many different designers including Tom Ford, Gucci, Prada, Dolce & Gabanna and many others too. Today probably the best way to shop for any type of eye wear is on the Internet, where buyers will find huge selections and low prices.
The story of Ray Ban sunglasses started in 1920 when Lieutenant John MacCready was on a balloon flight, and he returned complaining that the rays of the sun had permanently damaged his eyes. At that point, he contacted a company that is still well known today, Bausch & Lomb, to develop a pair of sunglasses that would provide protection for the eyes from the suns rays and would also look good at the same time. It was in 1937 that Bausch & Lomb developed the Anti Glare style, which consisted of lightweight gold plated metal frames and green tinted glass lenses. This filtered out those damaging ultraviolet rays of the sun. It was at this point that pilots in the United States Air Force were issued the Aviator sunglasses free of charge.
The Aviator style really became famous with everyone when, during World War II, General Douglas MacArthur landed on the beaches of the Philippines. Photographers were there to record the moment, and in the pictures they took the world saw him wearing those Aviator Ray Ban sunglasses. It did not take long before the style became popular throughout the United States with everyone. Since then, different styles have been used in many different Hollywood films, starting with Breakfast at Tiffanys in 1961, with Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly. We also saw them in The Blues Brothers with Dan Akroyd and John Belushi, in which they wore the Wayfarer style. Tom Cruise was seen in Risky Business sporting Ray Ban sunglasses in 1983. Also, in 2006, all of the members of the Honda Formula One Racing team wore a pair of Ray Bans during the racing season.
Ray Ban sunglasses division is now owned by the Luxottica Group, and their headquarters now are in Italy. For more than 70 years the company has been responsible for many different pairs of sunglasses that were seen on the silver screen and in the pages of many different fashion magazines. If you are looking for Ray Ban sunglasses your best bet is to hop on the Internet and browse through the inventories of many stores.
