Exhibit Type
Permanent Exhibit
Exhibit Location
Upper Level: The Lighter Side
The Collection of Doc & Mabel Tunnell

With a few years “off” to serve in the military during WWII, Dr. W.E. Tunnell practiced optometry out of an office in the central business district for almost 60 years. Now deceased, “Doc” maintains a downtown presence through this notable exhibit of antique and vintage eyeglasses.

Accumulated during a lifetime of collecting by Doc and his wife, Mabel, the accumulation represents not only the evolution of the science of optometry, but the fleeting trends in fashion as well. Tightly arranged in a somewhat small space, the exhibit invites viewers to come closer, examine and appreciate the ingenuity and variety of man’s optometric inventions….monocles on gilt chains, Eskimo sunglasses hand crafted from animal tusk, Revolutionary War era double-lens sunglasses with adjustable bows, a lorgnette elaborately carved from tortoise shell, motor car goggles…need we say more?