Anatomical Eyeglasses Fit The Earth

Imagination is a wonderful thing. And when lithographic artists were let loose on an ad campaign back in Victorian days, the images they produced would often be imaginative. With an off-world vision, the artist of this advertisement for eyeglasses to fit your nose, looks back on the planet with a spherical face.Remember when we were told that human consciousness was changed when we saw photographs of the Earth from space? Supposedly, it gave us what they are now calling 'global awareness.' But even back in the 1870s, or the 1880s, artists had these visions, and possessed that awareness. It may not have penetrated the consciousness of the viewing public, but there it was, leaning against the optical cabinet in the general store for all to see. A view of the Earth from space, wearing spectacles, thanks to the Milwaukee Litho & Engraving Company.Rather than finding a lesson in that for us, perhaps the real story is that a number of artists are just plain spaced-out.