{"id":71617,"date":"2022-09-19T21:50:53","date_gmt":"2022-09-19T21:50:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/09\/19\/how-the-us-military-adopted-its-famous-birth-control-glasses\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:08:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:08:33","slug":"how-the-us-military-adopted-its-famous-birth-control-glasses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/off-duty\/2022\/09\/19\/how-the-us-military-adopted-its-famous-birth-control-glasses\/","title":{"rendered":"How the U.S. military adopted its famous \u2018birth control glasses\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When I was 15 years old, my vision started to go. As a military brat, the options for eyewear were limited to a set of frames offered by the Navy\u2019s medical system. It was while trying on various pairs that I heard the phrase \u201cbirth control glasses\u201d for the first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Luckily, my parents decided I could invest in eyewear from Lenscrafters. But for about a century, service members \u2014 in more recent history, those in basic training \u2014 haven\u2019t been so lucky. At least, that\u2019s how long the military crusaded to transform anyone wearing standard-issue spectacles into &#8230; well, a spectacle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 1917, the U.S. military came to the realization that not every sailor, soldier, airman or Marine had perfect vision. As such, the Subcommittee of Ophthalmology, which fell under the Council of National Defense, was tasked with standardizing glasses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAt the beginning of the war no provision existed for supplying soldiers with spectacles,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/achh.army.mil\/history\/book-wwi-volisgo-sec2ch18\" target=\"_blank\">according to Army records<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The remedy for the lack of standardized eyewear during World War I gave rise to the military\u2019s now infamous \u201cbirth control glasses.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe need for proper eyewear led to the development of a program in 1917 to furnish spectacles to officers and recruits for a price 10 percent over the government\u2019s cost for the frame and lenses,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/achh.army.mil\/history\/book-historyofusarmymsc-chapter3\" target=\"_blank\">Army history indicates<\/a>. \u201cThe following year the Army authorized the free issue of spectacles to enlisted personnel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The program ended in 1918, however, and it was not expected to be resurrected. Unfortunately, just two short decades later, another World War necessitated standard issue eyewear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Medical Department was alerted in May 1941 by the commanding officer of the post hospital at Fort McClellan, Ala., who reported 75 enlisted men with glasses broken in line of duty who could not afford replacements, and others for whom glasses had been prescribed but who had no money to buy them,\u201d according to <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20210202014756\/http:\/\/history.amedd.army.mil\/booksdocs\/wwii\/medicalsupply\/chapter3.htm\" target=\"_blank\">AMMED records<\/a>. \u201cIn less than a month, on recommendation of The Surgeon General, the Medical Department was directed to provide spectacles, repairs, and replacements to all military personnel needing them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Army originally went with frames that were 10% nickel silver, but increased that construction to 18% when it was noted that heat on the lower percentage glasses caused dermatitis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The American Optical Company and the Bausch &amp; Lomb Optical Company were the only two outfits that could handle such wide-scale production needs, and while the contract was originally given to the former, it was eventually unable to meet demand, making Bausch and Lomb the official eyewear makers for the U.S. Army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The wire frames of the time, of course, were not exactly the most flattering spectacles, but it would be in the aftermath of World War II that the thick iterations, also known as BCGs, <a href=\"http:\/\/theeyewearblog.com\/what-are-birth-control-glasses\/\" target=\"_blank\">made their debut<\/a>. First, there were black thick-rimmed cellulose acetate frames, a version that eventually settled into its brown \u201cS9\u2033 form in the mid-1970s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And like my mother told me when I tried on a pair at the base optometrist\u2019s office, \u201cThey make you so ugly that no one wants to sleep with you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Alas, the brown cellulose acetate frames were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.army.mil\/article\/73319\/\" target=\"_blank\">discontinued in 2012<\/a> \u2014 a moment of relief for some, but one of profound sadness for those who seemingly love the thick rims that scream, \u201cI am Roy Orbison!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A Facebook page still pays <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Birth-Control-Glasses-BCGs-are-making-a-comeback-107203125977208\" target=\"_blank\">homage to the BCGs<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What\u2019s more, despite the Army\u2019s decision to do away with the BCGs, large color-block glasses have been made fashionable once more. So, if your grandpa has a pair of BCGs around, you could always fill them with your own lenses. It\u2019s certainly a lot cheaper than paying for contraceptives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BCGs were a mainstay for more than 60 years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":105740,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"single-post-observation-post","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":13,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,23,89,12,26,13,65],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3271],"class_list":["post-71617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-off-duty","category-your-navy"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"JNRRVF7CZZFKTKWGRYYAEUVF4I","arc_canonical_url":"\/off-duty\/2022\/09\/19\/how-the-us-military-adopted-its-famous-birth-control-glasses\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"observation-post","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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