Posted on 12/21/2009 5:26:10 AM PST by Daffynition
THERE is, as far as I know, only one accessory that can immediately bestow the veneer of grandeur upon the everyday fellow. That article is the monocle. By placing the gold-rimmed glass into the socket of an eye, class and eccentricity is instantly conferred upon the wearer. Unfortunately the monocle all but vanished in the post-war era, being consigned to a time when gold watch-chains hung across prosperous bellies and diamond tie pins held together cravats.
But things are changing. The optician Vision Express has announced it is to re-introduce the single eye-glass following a sudden surge of interest among customers. “To our surprise we have had dozens of requests in the last few months so we thought we’d bring back the monocle on a trial basis,” says Bryan Magrath, the chief executive of Vision Express. “We’re as puzzled as anyone by the interest.”
There are of course some who have been ahead of fashion on this matter. Great monocle wearers have included Napoleon and Beethoven, the politician Joseph Chamberlain, the film-maker Fritz Lang, Poet Laureate Alfred Lord Tennyson and Karl Marx.
Others have become famous almost it would seem because of the glass. Would Sir Patrick Moore have become such a household name if he’d worn normal specs?
And where would Batman’s nemesis The Penguin, the upper-class detective Lord Peter Wimsey, Colonel Mustard from the game Cluedo, comic Jimmy Edwards’s headmaster in Wacko, Colonel Klink from Hogan’s Heroes and of course the Monocled Mutineer have been without their distinguishing glass?
None of these characters, either real or fictional, wore a monocle because of poor eyesight. It is a common misconception that the glass circle is held in the poor eye to help give 20/20 vision. In fact the monocle is nothing more than a well-bred magnifying glass.
“It is always thought of an affectation,” says His Honour Judge Quentin Edwards who has used the glass most of his adult life. “But it is quite simply a clever device to help read small print or study something in detail. It is a quick and easy alternative to reading glasses and it is far more practical than carrying a pair of spectacles. I pull out my monocle to read the telephone directory, look at a menu or when I need to glance quickly at a document in court.
Hooo-ogan!
This is silly. Maybe we need some silliness today.
the game “cluedo”??
They left out charly chaplain.
How about one giant monocle on a popsicle stick? Walk around with it in front of your face. A full face monocle.
We are returning to a more explicitly class-based society. Monocles were once a way to identify the rich and well-bred. As most of us devolve into serfdom, we will need a method to identify our betters. If they would be so kind as to wear monocles, it will help me recognize to whom I must bow and scrape.
The game “Clue” is called “Cluedo” in the UK, and this article is from a British news site.
I can’t remember why it is called that there!
Didn’t FDR wear a monocle?
I want a magnifier on a chain so I can read the fine print.
Monoclewinsky.
HA! ROFL!
That's elementary, my dear Watson! Because the object of the game is to collect enough clues to solve the mystery.
But when this classic game was created in England, it was called "Cluedo", taking off what the Britons called LUDO (pronounced "lew-doh"), which simply means "I play" in Latin. So when Waddingtons Games Ltd., agreed to produce Anthony Pratt's new board game, they made a play on words: "LUDO" became "CLUEDO". And in more than 40 countries around the world, it's known either as CLUEDO or by the American CLUE name.
Someone let me know when they bring back the pince-nez.
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