Today I
learned spectacular news! Whilst women in the 1940s were busy basting their
legs with Paxo, chickens did their bit for the war effort by wearing glasses.
The small
but dapper specs, which were mass produced and sold throughout America from the
beginning of the twentieth century, were designed to aid avian well-being
(Chicken Fact Number 1!).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_eyeglasses
Chickens, as many hen-owners will tell you, get 'a bit peckish' at the sight of blood and tend to pick on any flock member with an open wound.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_eyeglasses
Chickens, as many hen-owners will tell you, get 'a bit peckish' at the sight of blood and tend to pick on any flock member with an open wound.
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| Detail from Andrew Jackson Jr's 1903 patent |
The glasses were available by mail order or through chicken feed stores for just a few
cents. In the 1950s, their popularity soared, with one company, the National Farm Equipment Company of
Brooklyn, crowing they had sales of 2-3 million pairs per year.
With the rise of disco fever in the 70's, chickens were still sporting glasses (and leotards) (and platform shoes) (no, they weren’t), and The Hawk-Eye newspaper spot-lighted an Illinois poultry farmer whose flock numbered 8000 be-spectacled beauties.
“But how did the chucks keep their glasses on?” I hear you ask. “For chickens have no ears.”
Point well
made. The spectacles were like tiny pince-nez. Two oval panels fitted over the chicken’s
upper beak, whilst a pin through the nostril
secured them in place. Not surprising then that the UK’s Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs banned use of said glasses in their 1982 ‘Codes
of Recommendations for the Welfare of Livestock: Laying Hens’ on grounds of
animal welfare.
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| Princess Leia - blue wattle means blue eggs |
Oh, and chickens
do have ears, by the way - two of them, covered by feathers on the side of
their head. But their earlobes are much more interesting.
The flappy folds of skin sit behind and below the eyes, and above the wattles,
and, Chicken Fact Number 2, their colour matches that of the egg shell…. most of
the time.
So a chicken with white earlobes will produce white shells, whilst a
chicken with blue earlobes, like our very own Princess Leia (Lay-er… do you see? We did a joke),
produces eggs with blue shells. Wattle they think of next?
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| Chicken Jumper knitted by Diane Mullins |
Science monkey believes very that no animal should ever be forced to wear glasses... not even a beagle in bifocals for a photo opportunity.
But 'chickens in jumpers' are a good thing.
Miserable, moulting, manky birds should be made to feel special with the warm, fuzzy glow of wool this winter.
So here's a lovely knitting pattern.....
http://barnyardsandbackyards.org/2011/02/03/chicken-sweaters//
Knit one, pearl one, anyone?
