Saturday, May 29, 2010

JFK's Shades

Thanks to an Anonymous commenter in the previous post I was pointed towards the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum which catalogs many of JFK's personal effects.  If you look under "Sunglasses" you will see that while JFK did indeed wear Wayfarer style glasses his actual shades appear to be made by American Optical ("True color Polaroid tc74-51") and Titmus ("Cabana TS 2505").  While it is wholly possible that JFK did wear Ray-Ban Wayfarers at some point in his life I think it is more accurate to site AO's Saratoga model as his sunglasses of choice - in the iconic Wayfarer style, but lacking Ray Ban branding and featuring much slimmer stems.


-L.A.S
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15 comments:

  1. TOMay 29, 2010 at 11:47 PM

    Any tips on finding these Lawrence?

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  2. L.A.SMay 29, 2010 at 11:48 PM

    TO- Click the link above to bid on a pair on eBay.

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  3. whereisthecoolMay 30, 2010 at 10:27 AM

    Carrera made this also, have a look
    http://www.achiperachoper.com/?p=635

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  4. TOMay 30, 2010 at 5:56 PM

    I thought the patterning was a bit different than in the pictures featured- either way damn sexy glasses

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  5. AnonymousSeptember 22, 2010 at 11:44 AM

    Klasik vintage sunglasses gets these and outs them up for bid on their website.

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  6. AnonymousApril 20, 2011 at 1:35 PM

    Having a hard time finding an original pair or decent remakes like in the top picture. For some reason Ray-bans just dont cut it for me. Weird fit on the classic and Wayfarer II lens seem too small.

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  7. JeremyJune 9, 2011 at 3:40 PM

    i have been searching for JFK sunglasses for a while too and i just bought a pair of Ray-Ban RB4147's that are a really great compromise. they come in a lot of colors, including tortoise shell, and look very much like the JFK's. they have a straighter angle, and the thin stems that differentiates the JFK's from a wayfarer. the pictures on ray-ban's website dont do the glasses justice. they look much more like the real deal in person. check them out!

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  8. AnonymousJuly 29, 2011 at 10:06 AM

    I don't think that those glasses, shown up close, are the same type JFK wore.

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  9. AnonymousNovember 19, 2011 at 11:38 AM

    trust me , JFK wore american optical wayfarer's

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  10. LeChakalMay 12, 2012 at 5:26 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  11. LeChakalMay 12, 2012 at 5:29 PM

    Hello, I have a pair of American Optical "Saratoga" but I saw several photos of it are President Saratoga as the end but have different branches on the wider end weird .... I saw a sale on Ebay of Optical Sunglasses, Cat Eye Cosmetan it are exactly the same as the Saratoga I do not understand here is the link: http://cgi.ebay.fr/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360457862127&ssPageName=STRK:MESINDXX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1436.l2649#ht_3746wt_1031

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  12. Janet TwokayAugust 19, 2012 at 4:23 AM

    JFK's sunglasses have been reproduced by Camrose & Kross and were sold on QVC tonight (Aug 18, 2012). There's a video of the sales presentation here:
    http://www.qvc.com/Camrose-&-Kross-John-F-Kennedy-ClassicSunglasses-Tortoise,.product.A229685.html?upsh=1&sc=A229685-CSWB

    ReplyDelete
  13. coleeric76November 9, 2012 at 2:13 AM

    Like the fashion glasses, yes, we need to follow the fashion trends, get inexpensive prom dresses, contact me.

    ReplyDelete
  14. UnknownSeptember 21, 2013 at 9:02 AM

    Check out this item I found on eBay: http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=221285008599

    ReplyDelete
  15. AnonymousMarch 25, 2014 at 7:08 PM

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-1950s-AMERICAN-OPTICAL-SARATOGA-CALOBAR-C25-49-JFK-AMBER-SUNGLASSES-CASE-/221401658290?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item338c9133b2 Heres a really good pair for sale!

    ReplyDelete

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