Microscope Museum

Collection of antique microscopes and other scientific instruments

Microscope 377 (American Optical; stereoscopic shop microscope; c. 1948)

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 377 is a stereoscopic shop microscope made by American Optical (Figure 1), which would have been used for quality control tasks in many industries. The binocular head is labelled with “AO SPENCER” and the serial number 295820, and another number “VN-97380-AD”. The stand contains a plate with the inscription “American Optical Company, Scientific Instrument Division, Buffalo, New York, Made in USA”. The instrument should be dated to c. 1948.

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

Figure 1. American Optical’s ‘AO Spencer’ stereoscopic shop microscope as engraved in a 1950 catalogue of the company.