Advertisements for sun-glasses appeared in both newspapers as early as 1914. This suggests that Chinese and foreign people wore glasses for appearance rather than as a medical device to correct vision deficiency, as observed by American commercial attaché Julean Arnold in 1918.*

*Source: "Weekly Report for the Week ended June 29, 1918". Julean Arnold Papers 1916-1940. Box 4 (1916-1920). Hoover Institution Archives, Stanford University, Stanford.