Prism Binoculars
name: label: maker
content: Warner & Swasey Company
notes: label: Description
content: Most of the field glasses (aka binoculars) used by Americans in the 19th century were imported from Europe. European dominance of the field increased still further in 1893 when Zeiss introduced a prismatic binocular designed by Ernest Abbe. Worcester Reed Warner (of Warner & Swasey) spent $40 for a pair of Zeiss binoculars in 1895, recognized the many advantages of the design, and determined to manufacture similar instruments in the U.S. Warner & Swasey introduced their Universal Prism Field Glass in 1900, boasting that it was "characteristically American in its design and construction, embodying simplicity, compactness, lightness of weight, and elegance of form an finish, together with large field, clearness of definition, ease of manipulation, and freedom from strain to the eyes."
label: Description
content: These prism binoculars were probably used during World War I. One inscription reads "Warner & Swasey." Another reads "U.S. NAVY 04350."
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Ohio, Cleveland
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences
label: See more items in
content: Science & Mathematics
label: See more items in
content: Optics
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2004.0257.01
label: catalog number
content: 2004.0257.01
label: accession number
content: 2004.0257
objectType: label: Object Name
content: binoculars
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 4 in x 3 1/2 in x 2 1/4 in; 10.16 cm x 8.89 cm x 5.715 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall in case: 5 15/16 in x 4 3/4 in x 3 in; 15.08125 cm x 12.065 cm x 7.62 cm