antique tortoiseshell eyeglasses Wanamaker w/ box

I'd love some info on these. Antique John Wanamaker tortoise shell eyeglasses with wooden mailing box. I' m guessing 1930s? Does that sound about right? I checked out completed auctions and was surprised similar ones don't got for more.

Thoughts on value? (They'd be sold in a retail vintage shop, assume can be priced higher than ebay).

Re: tortoiseshell - is the value affected by whether or not it's authentic? How can one test it? Any guesses, based on how these look and era, if they might be authentic or not?

I only have the one photo for now, unfortunately....

Thanks in advance!

 

Very Harold Lloyd, eh?
I think 1920s/'30s is about right.

 

Somewhere, I have a pic of my grandmother wearing very similar specs, holding my father as an infant, so would have been 1929-30...

~Cheryl

 

Those can't be real tortoise shell....

 

can they ?

 

be real shell??

 

Real tortoiseshell was a common material for eyeglass frames.

~Cheryl

 

wow...

 

Also for combs, hairpins, and all sorts of things.

 

ya, I know about that stuff, & I have an old trinket box made of that endangered turtle......I even have the turtle....a young hawksbill.

http://www.rarevintagesunglasses.com/collections/genuine-tortoise-shell

If genuine....but I doubt that....the above prices will curl yer toes !!!

Here's some straight talk...

Tortoiseshell Vintage Glasses and Cases in Late 19th Century America
Tortoiseshell is an exquisitely beautiful substance and was popular as a material for vintage glasses for several centuries – tortoiseshell glasses also appeared in later 19th century America. The shell actually comes from the hawksbill sea turtle, and not a tortoise – an unfortunate use for a rare and remarkable creature, though one which, at the time, was held in a strangely intense contempt.

Tortoiseshell glasses frames were made from the earliest times up until the first decade of the 20th century, and only lost their place among the creations of American vintage eyeglasses manufacturers when rubber coated steel frames and plastic coated steel frames were introduced in the First World War era. These substances, especially zylonite, were made to resemble tortoiseshell and were often advertised as such, sparing the innocuous hawksbills any further harvesting.

Genuine tortoiseshell antique eyeglasses are likely to be from the late 19th or the very earliest 20thcenturies. If you can positively identify glasses as being made of this substance, then you will have placed the glasses in time fairly accurately. If burnt, tortoiseshell produces a biting, acrid reek not unlike burning hair. This is a drastic form of identification, however, especially for valuable antique eyeglasses, and it is better to pass a finger lightly over the surface to see if it is slickly smooth (plastic or rubber) or if there are slight but perceptible whorls (tortoiseshell).

Tortoiseshell vintage glasses frames can be readily repaired by heating the broken ends and pressing them together, which will cause them to fuse. However, these vintage glasses need to be kept safe from rodents, since mice and rats devour tortoiseshell glasses eagerly, and many old pairs show at least a few nibble marks from the hungry murines of long ago.

Tortoiseshell glasses cases and pince nez cases

Tortoiseshell looks even more spectacular as the main component of a glasses or pince nez case, if possible, than it does as the frames of a set of antique spectacles or Oxfords. The larger surfaces gave the artisan the chance to show off the natural beauty and marbled, variegated hues of the remnants of a hawksbill turtle's shell, rather than just as a bit of striping on the narrow surface of eyerims and temples. These cases are frequently edged with silver, and occasionally with gold.

Tortoiseshell glasses are often best complemented by a period case, though the buyer must beware since better quality plastics have a strong resemblance to tortoiseshell. Their tactile feel is different, however – there are low whorls left by the organic structure of the shell

At least one famous figure associated with American vintage eyeglasses benefited from using a less stylish steel, rather than tortoiseshell, glasses case, however. Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt was saved from an attempt to shoot him by a saloon owner named John Schrank in Milwaukee. The bullet was slowed enough by the steel case to lodge superficially in the muscle rather than puncturing his lung – a rare instance where choosing tortoiseshell might have been the less optimal decision.

 

Fascinating info, Komo! And Messi -- I visualized Lloyd immediately as well!

 

Wow, thanks for the great info. I guess I'll test them and delve into it further. Do you have any sense what a pair like this, if not authentic tortoise shell, might sell at?

 

I checked over ebay, ertsy, ect and couldn't get a good handle on prices, but Skeezer is right about the box's added value.

R there any markings on the frame?

 

Is there any connection to the box other than they were in it when you acquired?

 

Unfortunately I don't have access to them right now to check for markings. I will, though, and report back. I found them in the box as is, but they were amongst the personal possessions of a man's estate, among items that had been put aside by the family so I'm pretty sure it's original to the glasses. There was one other pair as well, without a box, I'll see if I have a photo. Btw, I read these are shipping boxes, so there was probably a softer more protective case inside the wooden box at some point.

 

Glasses like that were very common in the 1920s and 30s. So yes, I'd agree with that as a date.

And yes, REAL tortoise shell was used for a lot of things in the old days. Spectacle-frames, jewelry, combs, etc, etc, etc...