Boise jewelry store owner, and inventor, James Thomas Laughlin was born February 5, 1863 on a farm about forty miles southeast of Canton, Ohio. While James was still very young, the family moved to a farm in western Illinois. They moved again in 1870-71 to a farm in western Iowa, about twenty miles from Omaha, Nebraska.
James worked for his father until about 1884, when he landed a job at a jewelry store in a small town about fifteen miles north of the family farm.
Back then, jewelry itself was only a sideline in many jewelry stores. They mainly sold silverware, fine china and glassware, and especially clocks and watches. For many, their best profits came from selling, adjusting, and repairing timepieces. Laughlin acquired a fascination with watches.
After two year at that store, James moved to a jewelry firm in Omaha for about six months. Then he went to work for the Waltham Watch Company, in Massachusetts. At that time Waltham and the Elgin National Watch Company dominated the industry, surpassing even Swiss watchmakers in quality and accuracy. They had gained a substantial advantage through the use of mass-produced parts that were (mostly) interchangeable.
Laughlin spent eight years “finishing and adjusting” watches for Waltham. A half century would pass before the industry achieved true interchangeability. Thus, each watch required crucial fine-tuning – by hand – to attain the needed accuracy and precision.
James eventually decided to go off on his own. He chose to do so in Idaho, where his brother Harvey had been working in Rocky Bar for a time. An announcement in the Idaho Statesmen said the brothers planned to open a jewelry and optical shop in downtown Boise.
Harvey helped get the business on its feet, then left in 1898 to join the Klondike gold rush. For the next five or six years, James ran a fairly conventional jewelry store, offering fancy silver and glassware, fine China, jewelry (rings, broaches and the like), and, of course, watch sales and repair.
However, some time during his tenure in Waltham, James had also added lens grinding to his skill set. By around the summer of 1907, he had an active sideline fitting “spectacle and eye-glass mountings so they will stay on and be comfortable.”
Eyeglasses without temples – the pince nez style – had come back into favor toward the turn of the century. Their popularity surely got a boost because President Theodore Roosevelt wore a set. But Laughlin disliked the designs then in use and began devising his own. In 1910, he received a patent for an eyeglass mounting that used spring wire to grip the nose “thereby eliminating the use of screws.”
He immediately began advertising the comfort and simplicity of his “ITFITS” design, which was “almost invisible.” Two years later, Laughlin filed on yet more improvements, although the patent was not granted until late 1915.
That proved good enough for awhile, but in the fall of 1923 he filed on a mounting that was designed for better lens positioning and to “simplify manufacture” of the eyeglasses. While he waited for a decision, he began advertising a “going out of business sale” in Boise. By the time the patent was issued in the spring of 1925, Laughlin had opened a store in Santa Barbara, California.
Over sixty years old when he moved, he perhaps sought a warmer climate. Laughlin remained active in the Santa Barbara jewelry business until his death in the fall of 1933
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| James Laughlin. [Hawley] |
James worked for his father until about 1884, when he landed a job at a jewelry store in a small town about fifteen miles north of the family farm.
Back then, jewelry itself was only a sideline in many jewelry stores. They mainly sold silverware, fine china and glassware, and especially clocks and watches. For many, their best profits came from selling, adjusting, and repairing timepieces. Laughlin acquired a fascination with watches.
After two year at that store, James moved to a jewelry firm in Omaha for about six months. Then he went to work for the Waltham Watch Company, in Massachusetts. At that time Waltham and the Elgin National Watch Company dominated the industry, surpassing even Swiss watchmakers in quality and accuracy. They had gained a substantial advantage through the use of mass-produced parts that were (mostly) interchangeable.
Laughlin spent eight years “finishing and adjusting” watches for Waltham. A half century would pass before the industry achieved true interchangeability. Thus, each watch required crucial fine-tuning – by hand – to attain the needed accuracy and precision.
James eventually decided to go off on his own. He chose to do so in Idaho, where his brother Harvey had been working in Rocky Bar for a time. An announcement in the Idaho Statesmen said the brothers planned to open a jewelry and optical shop in downtown Boise.
Harvey helped get the business on its feet, then left in 1898 to join the Klondike gold rush. For the next five or six years, James ran a fairly conventional jewelry store, offering fancy silver and glassware, fine China, jewelry (rings, broaches and the like), and, of course, watch sales and repair.
However, some time during his tenure in Waltham, James had also added lens grinding to his skill set. By around the summer of 1907, he had an active sideline fitting “spectacle and eye-glass mountings so they will stay on and be comfortable.”
Eyeglasses without temples – the pince nez style – had come back into favor toward the turn of the century. Their popularity surely got a boost because President Theodore Roosevelt wore a set. But Laughlin disliked the designs then in use and began devising his own. In 1910, he received a patent for an eyeglass mounting that used spring wire to grip the nose “thereby eliminating the use of screws.”
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| Eyeglass Mounting. Patent Diagram. |
He immediately began advertising the comfort and simplicity of his “ITFITS” design, which was “almost invisible.” Two years later, Laughlin filed on yet more improvements, although the patent was not granted until late 1915.
That proved good enough for awhile, but in the fall of 1923 he filed on a mounting that was designed for better lens positioning and to “simplify manufacture” of the eyeglasses. While he waited for a decision, he began advertising a “going out of business sale” in Boise. By the time the patent was issued in the spring of 1925, Laughlin had opened a store in Santa Barbara, California.
Over sixty years old when he moved, he perhaps sought a warmer climate. Laughlin remained active in the Santa Barbara jewelry business until his death in the fall of 1933
| References: [Hawley] |
| Amy K. Glasmeier, Manufacturing Time: Global Competition in the Watch Industry, The Guilford Press, New York (2000). |
| Dora J. Hamblin, “What a Spectacle! Eyeglasses and How they Evolved,” Smithsonian Magazine, Washington, D.C. (March 1983). |
| James T. Laughlin, Eyeglass-Mounting, Patent Nos. 957,071; 1,161,699; 1,532,323; U. S. Patent Office, Washington, D. C. (Issued May 3, 1910; November 23, 1915; April 7, 1925). |
| “[James Laughlin News],” Idaho Statesman, Boise; Los Angeles Times, California (July 1895 – June 1925). |