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{"id":27255,"date":"2023-08-03T11:00:10","date_gmt":"2023-08-03T15:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/?p=27255"},"modified":"2023-08-03T16:06:08","modified_gmt":"2023-08-03T20:06:08","slug":"mayerles-lithographed-international-test-chart-1907","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2023\/08\/03\/mayerles-lithographed-international-test-chart-1907\/","title":{"rendered":"Mayerle\u2019s Lithographed International Test Chart, 1907"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>By Stephen P. Rice ~<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Originally published in <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/resource.nlm.nih.gov\/101569502\">Hidden Treasure: The National Library of Medicine<\/a>, <em>2011.<\/em><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1271\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1271\" style=\"width: 350px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/eyechart_c06230.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"1271\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2013\/08\/02\/seeing-is-believing\/eyechart_c06230\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/eyechart_c06230.jpg?fit=1171%2C1300&ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1171,1300\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1346685400","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":""}\" data-image-title=\"EyeChart_C06230\" data-image-description=\"<p>eye chart with 7 panels<\/p>\n\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/eyechart_c06230.jpg?fit=270%2C300&ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/eyechart_c06230.jpg?fit=840%2C933&ssl=1\" class=\"wp-image-1271\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/eyechart_c06230.jpg?resize=350%2C389&ssl=1\" alt=\"International eye chart, on a wooden stand.\" width=\"350\" height=\"389\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1271\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mayerle\u2019s Lithographed International Test Chart, 1907<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>This multilingual eye-test chart, published in 1907, was the creation of the optometrist George Mayerle (ca. 1870\u20131929), a \u201cGraduate German Expert Optician\u201d who set up shop in San Francisco in the mid-1890s. <a href=\"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2013\/08\/02\/seeing-is-believing\/\">Optometry<\/a> was professionalizing at the time, and Mayerle was on board. A charter member of the American Optometric Association at its founding in 1898, a decade later (not long after the eye chart appeared) Mayerle delivered a lecture on \u201cThe Progress of Optical Science\u201d at a national conference of opticians. Typically, professionalizers were anxious to make a distinction between certified, licensed expert practitioners and undiplomaed marketers of nostrums and products. But Mayerle straddled the line. If he saw himself as a scientific practitioner, he was also right at home in optometry\u2019s peddler tradition, selling a variety of products to a national market, including \u201cMayerle\u2019s Diamond Crystal Eye Glasses\u201d and \u201cMayerle\u2019s Eyewater,\u201d which he pitched as \u201cthe Greatest Eye Tonic\u201d and sold by mail order and in drugstores.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_27258\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-27258\" style=\"width: 840px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/eye-chart_101573438.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"27258\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2023\/08\/03\/mayerles-lithographed-international-test-chart-1907\/eye-chart_101573438\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/eye-chart_101573438.jpg?fit=1600%2C1250&ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1600,1250\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}\" data-image-title=\"eye-chart_101573438\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"<p>Optometrist George Mayerle combined an array of eye tests on a single chart that, he boasted, was \u201caccurate, artistic, ornamental, practical and reliable.\u201d Marketing the chart to fellow practitioners, he promised that it \u201cmakes a good impression and convinces the patient of your professional expertness.\u201d<br \/>\nNational Library of Medicine #101573438<\/p>\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/eye-chart_101573438.jpg?fit=300%2C234&ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/eye-chart_101573438.jpg?fit=840%2C656&ssl=1\" class=\"size-large wp-image-27258\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/eye-chart_101573438.jpg?resize=840%2C656&ssl=1\" alt=\"An eye chart with a white background in Chinese, Russian, Hebrew, English, Japanese, and images, with color blocks and astigmatism tests.\" width=\"840\" height=\"656\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/eye-chart_101573438.jpg?resize=1024%2C800&ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/eye-chart_101573438.jpg?resize=300%2C234&ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/eye-chart_101573438.jpg?resize=768%2C600&ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/eye-chart_101573438.jpg?resize=1536%2C1200&ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/eye-chart_101573438.jpg?resize=1200%2C938&ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/eye-chart_101573438.jpg?resize=840%2C656&ssl=1 840w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/eye-chart_101573438.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-27258\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Optometrist George Mayerle combined an array of eye tests on a single chart that, he boasted, was \u201caccurate, artistic, ornamental, practical and reliable.\u201d Marketing the chart to fellow practitioners, he promised that it \u201cmakes a good impression and convinces the patient of your professional expertness.\u201d<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/resource.nlm.nih.gov\/101573438\"><em>National Library of Medicine #101573438<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>His eye chart, which he claimed to be \u201cthe result of many years of theoretical study and practical experience,\u201d combined four subjective tests done during an eye examination. Running through the middle of the chart, the seven vertical panels test for acuity of vision with characters in the Roman alphabet (for English, German, and other European readers) and also in Japanese, Chinese, Russian, and Hebrew. A panel in the center replaces the alphabetic characters with symbols for children and adults who were illiterate or who could not read any of the other writing systems offered. Directly above the center panel is a version of the radiant dial that tests for astigmatism. On either side of that are lines that test the muscular strength of the eyes. Finally, across the bottom, boxes test for color vision, a feature intended especially (according to one advertisement) for those working on railroads and steamboats. The chart measures 22 by 28 inches and is printed on heavy cardboard; a positive version of it appears on one side, a negative version on the reverse. It sold for $3.00 or for $6.00 with a special cabinet designed to reveal only those parts of the chart needed at the time (\u201cthus avoiding many unnecessary questions\u201d).<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_27259\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-27259\" style=\"width: 840px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/eye-chart_101573841.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"27259\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2023\/08\/03\/mayerles-lithographed-international-test-chart-1907\/eye-chart_101573841\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/eye-chart_101573841.jpg?fit=1600%2C1250&ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1600,1250\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}\" data-image-title=\"eye-chart_101573841\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"<p>Mayerle’s chart was two-sided, reproducing the chart with a black background on the opposite side.<br \/>\nNational Library of Medicine #101573841<\/p>\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/eye-chart_101573841.jpg?fit=300%2C234&ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/eye-chart_101573841.jpg?fit=840%2C656&ssl=1\" class=\"size-large wp-image-27259\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/eye-chart_101573841.jpg?resize=840%2C656&ssl=1\" alt=\"An eye chart with a black background in 6 languages and symbols.\" width=\"840\" height=\"656\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/eye-chart_101573841.jpg?resize=1024%2C800&ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/eye-chart_101573841.jpg?resize=300%2C234&ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/eye-chart_101573841.jpg?resize=768%2C600&ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/eye-chart_101573841.jpg?resize=1536%2C1200&ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/eye-chart_101573841.jpg?resize=1200%2C938&ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/eye-chart_101573841.jpg?resize=840%2C656&ssl=1 840w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/eye-chart_101573841.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-27259\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mayerle’s chart was two-sided, reproducing the chart with a black background on the opposite side.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/resource.nlm.nih.gov\/101573841\"><em>National Library of Medicine #101573841<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_27260\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-27260\" style=\"width: 141px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/101573438_detail.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"27260\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2023\/08\/03\/mayerles-lithographed-international-test-chart-1907\/101573438_detail\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/101573438_detail.jpg?fit=394%2C837&ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"394,837\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"101573438_detail\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"<p>Mayerle’s chart included images, to make it more universally useful.<br \/>\nNational Library of Medicine #101573438<\/p>\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/101573438_detail.jpg?fit=141%2C300&ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/101573438_detail.jpg?fit=394%2C837&ssl=1\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-27260\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/101573438_detail.jpg?resize=141%2C300&ssl=1\" alt=\"Detail from an an eye chart with a white background showing images, a cat, a dog, an American flag, and a human eye.\" width=\"141\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/101573438_detail.jpg?resize=141%2C300&ssl=1 141w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/101573438_detail.jpg?w=394&ssl=1 394w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 141px) 100vw, 141px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-27260\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mayerle’s chart included images, to make it more universally useful.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/resource.nlm.nih.gov\/101573438\"><em>National Library of Medicine #101573438<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The \u201cinternational\u201d chart is an artifact of an immigrant nation\u2014produced by a German optician in a polyglot city where West met East (and which was then undergoing massive rebuilding after the 1906 earthquake)\u2014and of a globalizing economy. One advertisement promoted it as \u201cthe only chart published that can be used by people of any nationality,\u201d such as might be needed by a practitioner in almost any American city. Another ad, which appeared around the same time, touted it as \u201cthe only chart\u2026that can be used equally well in any part of the world.\u201d Mayerle\u2019s internationalism was part of a marketing strategy, but when it suited him he could patriotically claim that his wares contributed to the project of American imperial expansion. A 1902 advertisement, for instance, boasted that a pair of his eyeglasses was used \u201cat Manila, during the Spanish-American War,\u201d by none other than Admiral Dewey himself.<\/p>\n<p><em>Stephen P. Rice is Professor of American Studies at Ramapo College of New Jersey. He is author of <\/em>Minding the Machine: Languages of Class in Early Industrial America<em>. His research focuses on nineteenth-century commercial wood engraving and visual culture in the United States.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Stephen P. Rice ~ Originally published in Hidden Treasure: The National Library of Medicine, 2011. This multilingual eye-test chart,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19605840,"featured_media":27261,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12763,4940351],"tags":[273907,466139,174727,1487506,678875870,678875957,72628,1912],"class_list":["post-27255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-collections","category-prints-photographs","tag-1900s","tag-eye-exam","tag-global-health","tag-hidden-treasure","tag-ophthalmology","tag-optics","tag-specialization","tag-vision"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/eye-chart_101573438_feature.jpg?fit=900%2C400&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3xcDk-75B","jetpack-related-posts":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19605840"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27255"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27255\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27274,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27255\/revisions\/27274"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} |