New Lens for Rear Auto Window Enlarges Backward View (Dec, 1930)
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Dec, 1930
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Or you could just make a window that goes across the entire back of the car…
New Lens for Rear Auto Window Enlarges Backward View
A MOTORIST can ordinarily get a good view of only a small portion of the road behind him, and is consequently sometimes at a loss to know everything that is going on. An English manufacturer, however, has come to the rescue and put on the market a magnifying glass, which is a large diameter double convex lens of fairly low power, that is fitted to the center of the rear window of a car.
With this lens attached the motorist is enabled to get a far more comprehensive view of the road, as shown in the drawing at the left. It is also claimed by the makers that the lens cuts out the blinding glare of the headlights of following cars reflected in the windshield. The lens is easily installed.
“Or you could just make a window that goes across the entire back of the car…”
Funny thing about the way people think, my mom once told me that she was apalled when the 1949 Fords came out with bigger windows, she and her friends were concerned about “people looking at them through the big windows”
Comment by Neil Russell — December 2, 2007 @ 10:12 am
Haha! Love the comments you write with some of the posts!
(I’m one of the people visiting this site on a daily basis but never leaves a comment…
Comment by Marc — December 2, 2007 @ 2:44 pm
Thanks! Feel free to comment more, we’re not going to run out of space
Comment by Charlie — December 2, 2007 @ 2:56 pm
When you see an RV, look at the back sometime. You’ll probably see one of those lenses on the back window. For various design reasons, the back windows on RV’s are not large.
These lenses are cheap plastic fresnel lenses, the kind that are sold as magnifiers. They stick to the inside of the window and away you go! They were ahead of their time after all.
Comment by David Moisan — December 2, 2007 @ 8:17 pm
Re #1: The styling trend these days is towards small windows, interestingly. Not side to side, but vertically. The window sills have been raised. Apparently market research shows this makes people feel “more secure.”
Comment by Orv — December 3, 2007 @ 4:10 pm