If you are one of the 125 million people in the world who wear contact lenses, you may recognize the brand name “Bausch and Lomb” from your bottle of contact solution. However, in the 1940s you were more likely to see the company’s logo plastered on pamphlets highlighting their vast contributions to the war effort. The Jean Outland Chrysler Library is delighted to possess one of these pamphlets entitled: “Bausch and Lomb AT WAR.”
Long before contacts were invented, Bausch and Lomb specialized in such military wonders as searchlight mirrors, telescopes, and aviator goggles. They even built a new Glass Plant to provide desperately needed optical glass to American troops. In order to advertise these and many other achievements, they created pamphlets that not only captured the spirit of a nation at war, but emphasized the value of the American worker. Through vivid colors, photography and highly evocative language,
the pamphlet portrays Bausch and Lomb
as a corporate hero, ready to do whatever is necessary to protect the American way. The cover of the pamphlet features a hand-drawn Bausch and Lomb logo, jabbed into a star-spangled sky by a silver dagger. Underneath the logo is a shadowy clock tower. The symbols of the clock and the dagger emphasize the timeliness of the war and the company’s involvement. They also allude to Bausch and Lomb’s elaborate history of military service; a crucial part of the company’s hero narrative. Despite such obvious sentimentality and tendency toward propaganda, the Bausch and Lomb pamphlet presents a truly unique view of American history. It is sobering to think about where we would be without the clarity of site. Perhaps it is fitting then to look back at our nation’s “Greatest War” through the lens of an eye-wear corporation. In an era of contact lenses and multipurpose saline solution, maybe it is better to dust off our binoculars and take a deep look into our past. Maybe then we can get a better glimpse of the future.
- Library volunteer Jessica Ritchie
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