How did YOU get into the Optical Industry???

[hcjilson]

I thought it might be fun to know how we got into this industry in the first place.After all, it is somewhat obscure in the long list possible careers.I am sure there are some interesting stories out there.

I have to credit Roy Rogers and Gene Autry for my optical career.Lowe's Poli theater had a special deal for kids on Saturday afternoons.For a quarter you could go in at 11:30 and watch one of the old Republic Serials and a double feature of Westerns.Hoot Gibson, Alan Rocky Lane,Lash Larue,Hopalong Cassidy,Andy Devine, Gabby Hayes Roy Rogers and Gene Autry, were all featured at one time or another.We used to sneak our lunches in and we were occupied for the next 3/1/2 hours.

Because we only had one car back in 1949, the only way for me to get to the theater was to go to work with my dad who was an optician and owned a shop around the corner from the theater.He had to find something for me to do from 8:30 to 11:30 and then after the show, from 4 to 5 PM.He did!

I started my optical career at age 9 by sorting out screws which I had swept up after someone had spilled a segmented tray with assorted screws all over the floor.Coincidently, later in my career I met Phil Salvatori who, along with Theo Obrig, invented the the corneal contact lens. (for you history buffs)and he told a similar story about his first day in the optical field.I suspect it may have been a rite of passage for young opticians in the old days.

So thats how I first came into the field, and also how I learned the difference between 5 and 7 barrells, eye wire screws, long glass screws, glass screws, and fancy head trim screws.I wasn't thanking them on that Saturday of my youth...but I'm wiser now....Thank you Gene Autry and Roy Rogers!

Lets hear your story.

[Judy Canty]

Harry,
I was a divorced single parent and I needed a job. I applied to work as a teller at a local bank. After all, I had a college education, although it was in music education, and I figured I could make change as well as any one else. The bank didn't want me, but the bank manager's brother-in-law managed New City Optical in Norfolk, VA and they DID need help.
I spent my first day learning to unpack and put away the delivery of lenses that had come that morning. No one really had time to show me how to tell one lens from another, so it took me all day! I figured that after that misery, how difficult could anything else be, so I came back for more. So, many thanks to Bob Vernon and Barbara Trailor for giving me a chance.

[Steve Machol]

I had just quit college for financial reasons and was working as a bartender at my Grandfather's place in Central Phoenix (the Canal Tavern on 7th Street). The bar just happened to be right next door to Valley Optical - one of the largest wholesale labs in Phoenix at that time.

As has been mentioned in these forums before, there seems to be a special affinity between alcohol and some Opticians - particularly Lab Opticians. ;) Needless to say, the predominate clientele at the bar were the Lab Opts from Valley - many of who spent their lunch hours and most of their free time at the bar.

Since my bartending job was part-time, I needed to find full-time work in order to pay the rent. The Lab Supervisor, Bob Merrill, told me he was looking for an Apprentice at the Lab and offered me a job. To this day, I still remember Bob as one of the best bosses I ever had. In my two years at Valley I learned virtually every job in the Lab (a rarity in those days) and became a Journeyman Lab Optician.

That was in 1973 and I've been in Optics ever since.

[Joann Raytar]

I had just gotten out of college and found out that jobs requiring a background in biology weren't that easy to get. Companies had just started making advances in DNA screening so places like Genentec had employment waiting lists 100-200 people long. I had to do something and I saw an ad in the paper for a lab tech. When I got there it was in an opthalmic lab as a surface tech. I spent my first week putting lenses away, pulling laps, patterns and lenses. The second week I was on to fining and polishing. This was the start of a nice set of well calloused hands between peeling fining and polishing pads off of laps and cutting myself on the metal glass fining pads; the emory slurry didn't help much either. I still have a set off scars from when my hand flew up after pulling a stubborn lap off the table and went right up into the cylinder machine pins. The true joy was having to clean a nice mix of polish and grease out from the inside of the cylinder machines and rebuilding and replacing shot wobble assemblies. Ah, those were the days ...

[rlaurinojr]

Lets see if I can give the Saturday afternoon version.

I was soon to be married and I completely hated my job
(Construction in South Carolina). Yet another summer was approaching and the thought of sand flees and palmetto bugs
(GIANT cocroach looking-like bugs that occasionally moonlight as birds!) My job was to climb into holes and drain pipes and fix them. I was March of 1999 and I was looking for an out. I saw a Job Corps advertisement and of course the 800 numberto call.
I went down and set me up to go to Great Onyx which was in the Mammoth Cave section of Kentucky.

However, I went to a doctor and he said that I had a toxin in my blood stream and he traced to my foot. Needless to say, I had to have surgery on my foot and lost my slot at Great Onyx where I would take electronics. When I went back into the office he set me up with the Pine Knot, Kentucky center which was smaller and offered only a handful of trades; all except one was manual labor.

When I saw that the "Dispensing Optician" trade was an accredited trade, I thought I would sign up for that. When I got there I was told that there was a 3 week waiting list (Something that the recruiter made sure to omit). I took Carpentry in the interim and made a pretty mean looking set of saw horses. I finally got a seat in the Opticianry class and had a ball with it.
My instructor Mr. Paul King was one of a kind. I enjoyed his class
(8 hours a day!) and loved running the old Coburn 108 that would perpetually and promptly uncalibrate itself. Loads of fun!

That is my little run in with Optics. Of course the videotape and
DVD is 19.95 and 29.95, respectively :)

-Ray

[harry a saake]

:bbg: I had just been discharged from the navy and was working as a bellboy in the old Garden City hotel, in Garden city, L. I. N. Y. One day after the hotel had been sold we were informed they were going to tear it down, which did happen.
.........I saw an ad in the paper that read Do you want a job with a future, call 516-555-1515. I thought yeah, this sounds appealing, so i called and the lady answered, Bausch and Lomb, opthalmic division, and i said what?. she then proceeded to explain ,as i never had a clue B&L made glasses.
.........I was hired at 75.00 a week to polish cylinder lenses, and then moved up the ladder, learning each step one at a time. All the things you have read in previous posts, i did and more so i wont bore you with all that.
.........I will say however i was lucky to have been taught by some of the finest old masters of the trade, especially Harry Jesco, who when i met him had been with B&L 50 years.

[kjw1231]

Nice topic...

In high school, I wanted to get into optometry school. At that time (1983) it was 6 years of college. My guidance counselor enrolled me into the ophthalmic dispensing curriculum at an area college. He said that it would ensure my enrollment. I was disappointed to learn that I should have been taking under grad courses instead. Needless to say, I graduated, became licensed and worked full-time at chain (gotta love the nights and weekends) and continued with school. I became a manger (store, district, regional) and only took 1-2 courses a semester. Many years of calculus, chemistry, biology, physics and humanities courses later, I took the OCATS. I did OK, but then they required biochemistry and some other courses. At that time I had just purchased a franchise and saw no point to becomming an OD. Also, I took Bio-chemistry only to learn that it made my brain ooze too much. So after obtaining an A.A.S, B.S, I am back finishing my MBA, with only one year to go. I also left the industry (sort of) and entered the IT industry 4 years ago, only to write software and consult for the vision care industry.

Funny how things happen....

[Jackie L]

My mom owns an Optical shop (independent) in Maine and one spring day she had a cold and could not speak on the phone. I had just moved back from Florida (19 years old) and volunteered to helped her out one afternoon. 20 years later I was still there, ABOC and licensed and still enjoying optics.

[rfish777]

I was in college in 1970 trying as most to stay out of the draft.
But as fate would have it I got into an automobile accident in march of 1971 that reguired 62 stitches in my head and another 15 or 20 in my knee. So the Army did not want me after that so I went back to college. I was going to go into computer science but I knew I could not get through the math. So Optical was my next choice at Erie Comm. College near Buffalo N.Y. So I grad. in 1973 and passed the New York boards and have been an Optician in New York since 1973.
:bbg:

[LaurieC]

I was a professional military wife and mother. And believe me in those days, if your husband was "career" that was your profession. Being a little too opinionated and having gone to school for some other reason than to meet a fine husband I was not the worlds most successful professional military wife, although to this day, I think I threw the best dinner parties. My husband finally agreed I could get a "little job" if I promised not to talk to much about it or other things I shouldn't talk or have opinions about. So one Sunday in Belleville, Il I saw an ad to work in this thing called Lenscrafters. It gave different job titles including something called a frame stylist. I called and was told that was sales. What the heck, I figured, I can sell anything. So I applied, got the part time position I wanted and 15 years later I'm still at my "little job". Except I'm not a frame stylist or at Lenscrafters any longer.

[mullo]

I was in University studying Commerce in 1988-1989 when I decided that I didn't fit in with the other paper pushers and accountant wanna be's. I had a buddy who graduated 2 yrs prior, drove a new car, dressed up everyday and seemed to enjoy his job. I applied and graduated 2 yrs later. Here I am 10 yrs later and still enjoying the choice.........Mullo

[chip anderson]

It helps a lot if you need a job, the optical industry has one open and you are too stupid to earn an honest living.

Chip.

[Corey Nicholls]

I dropped out of school in 1986 and looked for work. At the time the jobs in the local paper ranged from brick layer to computer scientist. I didn't have the build to be a brickie, or the brains to be the scientist, so I settled for the middle and ended up in optics.

At school I managed to fail maths, english, and science. I still made it in to optics, and got distinction grades doing it!

...............Go Figure!

[Alan W]

It was 1968 . . . still in Optical School, LACC . Hired by, the man, Russell Stimson himself, Superior Optical Co.
"You come with me, kid. Now your gonna learn something!"
(Oh, God, Sweet Mother of Leap Pads . . . what now?)
I worked along side some managers, the likes of which I can only say were Neandrathal Man . . .
"Listen, kid, ferget that school. Ferget what you learned, This is the way you do it. Chip off that lens, cut off that screw, use this nut, this tool left hand that tool right hand, don't you know nuthin?, never do this never do that, decenter this decenter that, won't cut out. Then . . . my new home store in Santa Monica. Bud Sterrett, mgr. (RIP, "Bud") and, the notorius . . . Gerard Lindegger, of Geneva, Switzerland.
Eeeeek! "You VIL polish zer Metzler frame before you fit ze brillen on ze patient. Zat skool you vent to....nicht gut. Zis ist ze vay you must do it. Yah? Dum kopf. " Und, yah . . . shmohead....you must catch ze lenz as it comes ous das B&L heat treating machine before ze lens hits zer floor und melts zer carpeting! You vil stop ze lens in flight vis yer foot und catch it in zer towel"
On and on and on. No harrassment laws then.
Ahhhh...the price to pay for experience and respect!"

Next to Mark Shupnicks school in New York.... LACC was the best.
Next to Gerry Lindegger . . . everyone else was a saint.
But, he was and always will be my optical hero! I love him to this day! We email a lot.
Next to the Santa Monica store where it was movie stars and opera singers . . . it was THE HOLLYWOOD STORE....full of Hollywood and Vine weirdo's. Thank you, Jack Cohn, mgr. wherever you are up there in "blended heaven!"

Really boring way to get into this business . . .
:drop: , , :cheers: !!!

[hcjilson]

Russell Stimson....was right! What a start you got!
He was a genius who surrounded himself with some very bright people (some say thats the definition of genius).He would make a good thread all by himself!
hj

[Pete Hanlin]

Let's see... I was BORN in 1968, but I didn't manage to get into optical until 1989. I was fresh out of college and was working as a carpenter with my dad's company. After work (which sometimes involved installing this particularly insidious insulation product called "rotten cotton"), I would visit my wife at her job in the mall. Deb was a contact lens technician, and while I would wait for her I'd notice the guys in the lab seemed to be having a grand old time listening to their music, wearing white lab coats- and nary a bat of rotten cotton in sight!

My dad was a bit incredulous when I traded a $15 an hour job for minimum wage, but there I was- a rookie lab rat! "Black pad, blue pad, white pad" became my life's work for the next couple months, but I finally dug my way up after finding some optical texts around, reading them, and annoying everyone (except the worthless lab manager, John) with question after question.

Twelve years, some certifications, licensure, and many happy experiences later, here I sit in my office typing on OptiBoard. Optical is certainly a great profession for those who want to learn as they go!

Pete

[mikeh]

My brother's in-laws set him up in a one-man finishing lab in the early 70' s (they were a family of OD's). I was just out of the Army and having difficulty finding work as a cryptographer. My brother offered to teach me a trade and I jumped.

After training me for three weeks, he left on vacation. I spent the next few weeks taking orders on the phone ; putting Doctors on hold while I called the surfacing lab asking "What the heck is a Uniyellow lens and do you make them!"

A baptism of fire! 48 mm was the largest eye size (you could get a 50 as a special order) and 55 mm glass lenses were oversize. If the Rx called for anything other the three below and one and a half in we figured it was a misprint.

What a great ride!

[eyeguy2001]

My mother had been in the business for well over 10yrs or so. Started out in Orlando, Fl and moved to Charleston, SC sometime in late 1979. Took on a job with a contact lens specialist by the name of Dr. Robert Lopanik and Dr. Thomas Scarbourgh. Ended up, as weird as it may seem, marrying Dr. Lopanik and took on the insurance as well as the lab aspects of the small practice. I went to college and never really got into it, needed to be into something that required "hands on" work and waiting tables and such didn't do it for me. My stepfather had some people leave the job and Dr. Scarbourgh passed away, so he asked me to join up and start out as a tech. Well, I loved the job and dealing with the people one-on-one and it beat the hell out of waiting tables. I naturally fell in love with the practice and and felt as if being there, working, was just like being at home. I worked overtime, spent 2yrs apprenticing and begun to edge and make glasses. I already had the sales experience so that was naturally there. I loved it. I recently took my state and american boards and passed and currently working with some great doctors.

eyeguy

[myodisk]

In 82' (10th Grade) I already knew every thing there was to know..... So I quit school to go work with Dr. Edward Harden OD ...my dad (he thought he would teach me a lesson) I started by putting temples on about 500 frames (hate it to this day) it lasted about 3 months till I was fired by his office mgr for sleeping in the refracting chair. From there went to work at the lab he sent his work to.. (they'ed REALLY show me!) I met a bunch of really great guys who taught me more than just optics. Almost 20 years later I'm the lab manager at the specials lab for a major chain and still love to solve the problems and do the jobs every one said could'nt be done (that should'nt have been sold)

I owe my livleyhood to opticians who like to sell +10.00 poly PAL's in that "smallish" 57 eye frame...........

Chuck

[fly]

I joined the military in 87 to go into Military Intelligence Ha ha! Any way the military did not want to give me a Top Secret clearance. High School trouble nothing bad except in the army's eyes. So they sent me to operate radios in Georgia and finished the school with honors and was ready to move on in the radio field. Then the first sargeant said I had to find a new career because I had to have a Secret clearance, not be red /green color deficienct and have no alcohol related incidents. So after we went over the options of helicopter mechanic, nurse and so on I had the high scores but those things hindered me. So after some searching he said looked up and said" Hmm optician, no security clearance needed, color deficienys don't matter and they don't care about alcohol related problems." He looked up at me and said "Pack your bags you 're gonna be an optician." Little did I know that 14 years later I would have my own store and have such a vast knowledge and love for such a profession

[JRS]

1965 for me.
Started as a surface gopher in the summer before I got of school. Although in my case, I'd been surrounded by 'optical stuff' all my life. A fore-gone conclusion I would end up in the business somewhere/somehow.
My uncle and one grandfather were OD's. My other grandfather owned a lab. My father ran a lab and went to college at night. Had more books on the Anatomy of the Eye and Diseases of the Eye around than I could count. Of course, since this was in the days before cassette tapes, my father had 78rpm records with optics lectures we listened to. Worked my way through the lab and into management. Did some dispensing for awhile too. Got involved with 'plastics' in 1969. (Best career choice I ever made) and went on to run 2 labs. Got involved in Law Enforcement for 5 years (went to Texas A&M for that stint) and then went back to optics. Did a little teaching at a community college in optics. Consulted for a optical software company for 12 more years and ended up doing this line of work.

Been a great career and met some great people over the 36 years.

[ziggy]

I was in the Army and had top get a new MOS due to an injury. My choices were simple, missels in Oaklahoma or optics in Denver,, with visiones of snow bunnies danceing in my head, I was off to FAMC. never seen any snow bunnies but did get to see a bunch of miss-placed hippies!!

[Mike Fretto]

I wish I could find the picture my Grandfather took of me when I was 5 years old putting temples on fronts at the bench. I used to take it to any new lab's I started at to show them how long I had been in the business. My Grandfather was Ray Brown he owned and operated a wholesale lab in Joliet, Ill. called B&M Optical which he later sold to Milton Roy. I started part time in "72" as a sophmore in high school thru the summer and went fulltime in "74" upon graduation. Its really amazing to see the improvements made to the equipment and the processes over the years. My wife and I moved our family to N.C. 5 years ago where I started a job in the retail end of the business. I've made millions of glasses over the years and never really heard from anybody what they thought of my work. Its really gratifying to hear what a patient thinks of your effort ( most of the time) LOL.:hammer:

[chip anderson]

Mike: Your grandfather was putting temples and Chassis(s) together. Now he would be putting temples and fronts together as even the manufacturers no longer know the correct term.

Chip

[hcjilson]

Originally posted by chip anderson
Mike: Your grandfather was putting temples and Chassis(s) together. Now he would be putting temples and fronts together as even the manufacturers no longer know the correct term.

Chip

Actually Chip, If memory serves, the chassis was the eyewire assembly to which you had to affix tops and temples in a combination frame.Once you had the tops on the chassis it became a "front".My dad had 3 shops and I would love to have a nickel for every Sirmont,Leading Lady, Ronsir,Clubman,and the famousB's 51 and 31 from B&L.Believe it or not but I think you can still get the Clubman from ArtCraft....disassembled, of course!:D :D New England is supposed to go over 100 today, hot hot is it down there?
Best today from harry j