Time Capsule #15: wire-rim glasses

In the late 60s, rock-n-roll stars made fashion statements with these frames. The English called them teashades, and, some of us called them granny glasses.

One iconic image of these frames is the farmer in Grant Wood's "American Gothic," but Janice Joplin's became an ever more recognizable icon.

Besides rockers, wire-rims were associated with politics on the left, perhaps because some of the SDS folks like Aylward wore them.

By the time photos for the '71 Aegis were made, six classmates showed up rocking round-frame wire-rims. Two cool professors, Green and Zaslow, had the same glasses.

In the fall of sophomore year on the way to Spain, I fell for a girl with a Twiggy haircut and a miniskirt. By the time I saw her again the next summer she was a stoner Led Zep fan in bell-bottoms, beads, --and wire-rims. I got my own teashades as soon as I got back to Hanover.

Nowadays, wire-rims make younger people think of Harry Potter.

Things change. Lucky we haven't.

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