Browline glasses are a style of eyeglass frames which were very popular during the 1950s, especially in the United States. The name derives from the fact that the bold upper part of the frames frame the lenses in the same way that eyebrows frame the eyes. The creators of the design, Shuron, produce a line of browline glasses under the "Ronsir" brand; Ray-Ban produces a line of sunglasses

Sunglasses

Sunglasses or sun glasses are a form of protective eyewear designed primarily to prevent bright sunlight and high-energy visible light from damaging or discomforting the eyes. They can sometimes also function as a visual aid, as variously termed spectacles or glasses exist, featuring lenses that...

 and eyeglasses known as the Clubmaster that is based on the same style.

Description

Browline glasses are constructed from a combination of metal and plastic. The lenses of the glasses are fixed in metal frames which then insert into plastic "brows," which are attached to the earpieces of the glasses. Traditionally the bridge of the glasses is metal and affixed to the metal portion of the frame surrounding the lenses. In more recent styles, the bridge is part of the plastic "brow" portion.

History

Browline glasses were invented in 1947 by Jack Rohrbach, then vice-president of Shuron Ltd., an eyeglass company.. The style was shortly thereafter replicated by Art-Craft optical. The style quickly gained in popularity, and through the 1950s half of all eyeglasses sold were browlines. As a result, many famous figures from the mid-20th century wore browlines, including black liberationist Malcolm X

Malcolm X

Malcolm X , born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz , was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its...

, Kentucky Fried Chicken founder Colonel Sanders

Colonel Sanders

Harland David "Colonel" Sanders was an American fast food businessman who founded the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant chain, now re-branded as KFC...

, and many others.

As of 2011, Shuron and Art-Craft optical still manufacture browline glasses; in the first decade of the 2000s, many other eyeglass manufacturers began to release their own styles.

External links

• Shuron's "Ronsir" line, one of the last browline glasses lines in production
• Ray-Ban's "Clubmaster" line