Genuinely Old and Steampunk!

Greetings and salutations, everyone. I've decided to occasionally write a series on here about steampunk clothing that I have. Ideally, I'd like to focus on items that are genuinely old, from the age of steam, but that would make it a very short series, as I have only two such items. So I'll pad it with other random things from my growing collection. Who knows, if I get a real job and eBay fortune smiles on me, I may soon have more actually old steampunky goodness.

For this first installment in the series, I would like to present . . . Cinder Goggles! (circa 1850)

These are the oldest things I have in my house, being older even than my Edison phonograph cylinders! They come from a time when trains did not have windows on all the cars, and they prevented hot cinders from blowing into your eyes. Believe me, when that happens, it is not pleasant. To try it out, take the Durango-Silverton or Cumbres-Toltec railroads, or any of the steam railroads that are scattered around still. It's a truly steampunk experience.

But I digress. I like these goggles because they are small and ladylike. They even came in a handy tin case to slip in your purse. However, they also have a distinct mad science look to

them, as seen here. I want to play with the lighting to get both lenses to glow, but I already love the way the old glass creates a nice even shine with no details like an actual reflection. Out of all the goggles I have, these are my favorites, and the only ones I am not going to modify in any way, except maybe clean up the ends of the string.

Stayed tuned for an article on jodhpurs, the official trousers of adventure!