Anna 098

Myodisc lenses are made for extremely shortsighted people. The back side of a negative lens is concave and the stronger the negative lens is, the thicker it is at the edge. This makes the standard negative lens impractical in case of extreme myopia. The traditional myodisc lens has a central circle shaped "bowl" with the prescription required and this is surrounded by a carrier lens which is often plano.
Back in the 1950's and early 1960's, there was a stigma about glasses in general and especially about myodisc glasses. I remember seeing many girls and women in myodisc lenses during my childhood and they all seemed to be shy when you were looking at them. The abrupt demarcation between bowl and carrier lens was all too visible. There were no alternatives like contact lenses either, let alone surgery.
During the late 1960's, a new type of myodisc arrived and it was called "Formlenti". This lens type is shown here by Anna. The circle shaped bowl is replaced by a central part which neatly follows the shape of the frame. The abrupt demarcation with the carrier lens is still there but the lens looks definitely better from an aesthetic point of view. Formlenti always remained white ravens in the streets as their invention coincided with the arrival of contact lenses.