These dust goggles, a “stoco” model from 1915 made by the Standard Optical Company of Geneva, New York (organized in 1893), represent the essential eye protection equipment of the early automobile age. The distinctive single-piece molded design — with its characteristic dark colored frame wrapping continuously around both round lens openings and connecting to the elastic head strap — is immediately recognizable as the classic “dust goggle” form that protected the eyes of early motorists navigating unpaved roads at speeds previously unimaginable to horse-drawn travelers.
The Standard Optical Company was one of several Geneva, New York optical firms that made that upstate New York city a center of American optical manufacturing at the turn of the twentieth century. Their stoco model goggles were among three models shown in the motorist news of the era — contemporary automotive publications that regularly featured eyewear recommendations for the rapidly growing community of automobile enthusiasts. The open-air vehicles of 1915, with their exposed cockpits, running boards, and minimal windshields, subjected drivers and passengers to constant bombardment from road dust, flying gravel, insects, and wind — making quality dust goggles a genuine safety necessity rather than a mere accessory.
The stark, minimalist design of these goggles — all black frame, clear round lenses, and simple elastic strap — has an almost modernist visual quality that makes them appealing to contemporary collectors. Like the Berkshire goggles also in this collection, these Standard Optical dust goggles represent an important crossover between ophthalmic history and early automotive history, and are increasingly sought after by collectors of both vintage eyewear and motoring memorabilia.See image.
