BAUSCH & LOMB

John Jacob Bausch (1830-1926) and Henry Lomb (1828-1908)

In 1853, a German immigrant called John Jacob Bausch started a small lens shop in Rochester, New York. In the beginning, the business had financial difficulties. To avoid impending closure, Bausch borrowed $60 from his friend Henry Lomb on the condition that Henry would become his partner if the shop was a success. Spectacles were their main business, but microscopes were also produced after 1876.
Their early 20^th century catalogues show a wide range of sophisticated equipment including microprojectors, photomicrographic cameras and fluorescence microscopes.
During the First and Second World Wars, they also mass-produced sunglasses for the army because it was impossible to import enough lenses from Europe and they were thus forced to innovate. After World War II, they began producing medical devices.
In 1987, their Optical Systems Division, including microscopes, was sold to Cambridge Instruments Ltd.
Among other products, Bausch & Lomb developed the famous Ray-Ban sunglasses, different types of contact lenses, surgical implants and medication. In 2013, Valeant Pharmaceutics became the chief shareholder of Bausch & Lomb.

New York headquarters of the Bausch & Lomb Optical Company in 1891.

See also wikipedia.org/Bausch & Lomb.