I'm curious about the use of sunglasses anywhere from the 1800's to the early 20th century, particularly in the American West. I'm having trouble finding detailed accounts, and virtually no luck finding any images of Western citizens wearing them.
How common were they? How were they made? What did they look like at this time? What did the use of sunglasses indicate about a person's status? What professions or activities encouraged their use?
I have never run into a reference nor have I seen any hint of shaded glassed in the archeological record from the nineteenth-century West. This previous question/answer suggests mass-produced shaded glassed date to 1929.