Ray-Ban, the manufacturer of the famed sunglasses under the same name, was founded in 1937 by Bausch & Lomb.

It all started several years earlier when a Lieutenant John MacCready returned from a balloon flying adventure, suffered eye damage permanently due to the high altitude bearing the sun’s rays as in balloon flying.

Bausch & Lomb was roped in to create glasses that would helped those who would be in similar situation as Lieutenant John MacCready especially the aviators of United States Army Air Corps.

That year, Bausch & Lomb introduced the Anti-Glare sunglasses prototype, which weighs about 150 grams. The two pieces of green lens were hold by gold-plated metal of wire construction.

Ban The Rays?
The remarkable features of this prototype were the ability to filter the harmful infrared and ultraviolet rays, a first during that time.

Another feature was the shape and size of the lens. The shape of the lens was of oblique teardrop and the size was very different from those reading or prescription glasses as these were smaller. This prototype has a lower end of the lens to help the aviators to glance downward at the controls without having to look down. The big size of the lens, coupled with the slightly convex shape, help to provide a bigger area of protection to the eyes from those harmful infrared and ultraviolet rays.