Microscope Museum

Collection of antique microscopes and other scientific instruments

 

    

Microscope 358 (American Optical; Stereo Star Zoom head; 1960s – 1980s)

 

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The American Optical has its origins in 1826 when William Beecher started a modest jewellery store in Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA. In 1869, the company was established as American Optical (AO) Company, mostly focussed on spectacles and sunglasses. In 1935, the American Optical purchased the Spencer Lens Company, located in Buffalo, New York. The company was a manufacturer of high-quality microscopes and is considered the first American microscope maker. In 1945, the name Spencer Lens Company was changed to American Optical Scientific Instrument Division and, in 1950, AO relocated their Southbridge ophthalmic instrument manufacturing to the Buffalo facility. In 1967, AO was purchased by Warner Lambert Pharmaceutical. Over the next two decades the company changed hands several times, carrying the names: Cambridge Instruments, Reichert-Jung, Inc., and Leica Microsystems. Finally, in December of 2002, a management buyout in collaboration with Summer Street Capital Partners of Buffalo, NY, occurred, and Reichert, Inc. was formed. Microscope 358 is a Stereo Star Zoom head made by the American Optical Corporation, has the serial number 124988, and should be dated to the 1960s – 1980s. This binocular head would fit several stands sold by the company (Figure 1). There is also a fluorescent light illuminator that fits the binocular head.

Note: this instrument was kindly donated by Dave Levell (Pembrokeshire, Wales) in May 2023.

 

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Figure 1. Examples of stereo star zoom microscope heads fitted on different stands sold by American Optical, as engraved in a 1982 catalogue of the company.