Could you help me date these Opera glasses?

[Tinseltown]

I don't know... Does the 65 mean they're from 1965?
How do you like them?
They've already become quite useful.

(please excuse my disgusting floor)

 

[Tinseltown]

Anyone??

 

[green papaya]

made in USSR

by the way it's marked with "Made in USSR" my guess would be 1960's - 1970's era

 

[Mike in Seattle]

I would really doubt 65 is referring to 1965. It's probably more likely a model number or part number.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

It is interesting though.


Made in USSR...in English implies it was either made for the export market or made to emulate something foreign.

 

[Vladimir Berkov]

Russian stuff that is dated usually includes the "19" in the year, and ends in "r." IE, something made in 1940 would be marked "1940r" not "40." I would say the circle/triangle marking denotes the factory where it was made, but that is really all I can guess. The English markings are bit of a mystery, it certainly seems an odd product for export.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

Russian stuff that is dated usually includes the "19" in the year, and ends in "r." IE, something made in 1940 would be marked "1940r" not "40." I would say the circle/triangle marking denotes the factory where it was made, but that is really all I can guess. The English markings are bit of a mystery, it certainly seems an odd product for export.

I was just reading an article that came up when I googled 'Made in USSR' ....that gave stats on the number of import products that the US bought post War......from Russia....including stuff that was made in Gulags..and it was interesting to note, one of the people they interviewed pointed at a chair and it had the 'Made in USSR' marking on it........so it is possible that it was of a similar origin.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

Russian stuff that is dated usually includes the "19" in the year, and ends in "r." IE, something made in 1940 would be marked "1940r" not "40." I would say the circle/triangle marking denotes the factory where it was made, but that is really all I can guess. The English markings are bit of a mystery, it certainly seems an odd product for export.

or it at least looks like an r.....

 

[Tinseltown]

The "r" would refer to "rok" (means year in polish... I am guessing it means the same in Russian).
Hmmm...But the USSR mark pretty much nixes it as a Golden Era item right?

 

[Miss Neecerie]

Ok....

They were made by the Lytkarino Optical Glass Factory aka LZOZ



http://www.lzos.ru/

In the bottom middle pane of the large graphic is their factory emblem.....the triangle circle and the C in the middle.

They have been in business since around 1942...but I would go by the history page and wager they were making only military products until well after the war

Company History here:

http://www.lzos.ru/en/history.htm



So...if you go with a post war window......of late 40's and a 'last possible date for that marking' date of 1991...add a year or so for them to have possibly made a few more pair with already embossed plastic parts....

1950- 1993?


Not a very precise window....sorry

 

[Miss Neecerie]

Ok....am PM'ing you links for two auctions for a pair just like them minus the export Made in USSR...
Both of those auctions says 50'-70's....


But they are still great looking regardless of date....Opera Glasses haven't changed all that much over the years.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

The "r" would refer to "rok" (means year in polish... I am guessing it means the same in Russian).
Hmmm...But the USSR mark pretty much nixes it as a Golden Era item right?

Nods...thats why I was saying it looks like an r...its really not a latin alphabet character at all....

 

[Tinseltown]

Miss Neecerie - Thank you! I read the PM too.
Mine seem in very good condition compared to the 2nd auction posted.

I wonder if they're worth anything... Not that I wanna sell them...

I'll just convince myself that they're from the 50's. lol

 

[optimusprime]

The "r" would refer to "rok" (means year in polish... I am guessing it means the same in Russian).
Hmmm...But the USSR mark pretty much nixes it as a Golden Era item right?

The "r" in question is actually a Cyrillic "г" (pronounced G as in Gamma), which is short for "год" which means year in English. The USSR mark seems more likely to include it as a possible product of the Golden Era... US-Soviet relations were relatively mild from 1930-1945. It was only after WWII, when the Soviets controlled everything east of Berlin, that the Soviets and the west parted ways...