The world of eyewear at the end of the 19th century was very different from today’s and was flooded with all sorts of accessories. These included pince-nez, spectacles and monocles. In the 19th century, poor eyesight became a real problem for educated people. Constant reading (often in insufficient light) gave rise to an “epidemic” of myopia, even among the very young. A gymnasium student wearing spectacles was commonplace at the time.

Gradually glasses became associated with an intelligent, intellectually developed, interesting person.

The museum exhibit — a watch case — illustrates an interesting page in the life of the pre-revolutionary town of Kirsanov. The inspection log of commercial and industrial establishments in Kirsanov district for 1915 stated that the shop selling gold and silverware owned by a petty bourgeois Josel Khaimovich Krimer and his watch and silverware shop were located in Mikhailovskaya (now Sovetskaya) Street. The shop had an income of 2,000 rubles a year, and trade in silver and goldware brought 25 thousand rubles annually. Nearby was the hat workshop of Leda Krimer (possibly the wife of J. Krimer). Industrial address-calendar “All Russia” for 1912 said that Josel Krimer’s shop was located in Bolshaya Street at that time. According to this calendar, there were two watch shops in Kirsanov in 1912, one belonging to Krimer, and the other to Berka Schlemovich Bezprovanny. In Tambov Governorate in those days only large towns had watch shops: Tambov, Lipetsk, Morshansk, Kozlov (Michurinsk), Borisoglebsk and Kirsanov. At that time, as nowadays, a wristwatch was seen not only as a timekeeping device, but also as a status symbol, so it is not surprising that the rich merchant town of Kirsanov got its own watchmaker’s workshop and shops selling watches and related goods. In antique shops both men’s and women’s watches were available featuring the inscription on the dial “Krimer. Kirsanov”.

The museum keeps a men’s pocket watch made by Josel Krimer in Kirsanov. In those days, men preferred pocket watches on a chain; wristwatches were worn only by women. It was believed that a man’s wristwatch would not stand up to the usual rhythm of human life, not to mention such active male activities as hunting, sport or war. Men’s attitudes towards wristwatches are illustrated by a well-known saying of the time: “I’d rather wear a skirt than a wristwatch”. For this reason, wristwatches were produced by only a handful of firms. They were almost all small ladies’ models on a thin bracelet or chain. Judging by the size of the case preserved in the Kirsanov Local History Museum, the watch in it was just that — a small ladies’ watch.