Say that title five times fast! What in the world am I talking about???
Red Chicken Sunglasses!
Yes, you read that correctly, there are red sunglasses made for chickens and they have been around since the early 1900’s. Not used so much anymore and made differently now, but there have been a lot of chickens looking through rose-colored glasses in the past 100 years or so! Maybe they know something we don’t.
It all started when I walked in after a long day away to a noise coming from my living room. Surely, no it could not be, that there were chickens, albeit little chickens in the living room?! There they were, 10 little peepers in a tub, right there in the living room.
We started talking about chickens and I have no idea how it came up but Brian told me that there really were sunglasses for chickens and googled a picture, well I was undone. He showed me this picture and it was almost too much for me! I googled more and had fits of laughing explosions and realized I had found a blog worthy topic. Who had ever heard of sunglasses for chickens? And more, who would ever fit them onto their chickens? Silly me, lots of people, they sold millions of the things.
Also known as chicken specs, chicken googles, pick guards, peepers, anti-pix, anti-pecking peepers, red sunglasses, these glasses were first patented in 1903 by Andrew Jackson Jr of Tennessee. They were available via mail order through Sears Roebuck or chicken feed stores for a few cents each. In 1939 Joseph Haas patented another form of red colored chicken glasses. In 1973 an article in “The Hawk Eye” newspaper reported that a farmer had 8,000 chickens fitted with the rose-colored glasses.
Today on Amazon and Walmart sites you can order the red colored Anti-Pecking Pieces of Pinless Peepers with Pliers.
I saw a clip of the tv show Storage Wars where Barry found 3 sets of red glass chicken peepers. He took them to a chicken farmer to see exactly what they were. They were vintage rose colored chicken glasses and the farmer said that they used to sell a package of 100 for $3. Now those 3 sets of red glass chicken sunglasses were worth probably $500 (for all 3) to a collector, it is looking rosy for those who might have some of these chicken peepers.
Brian had been told as did a whole heck of a lot of people that chickens were color blind. In fact, they are not and they can see color. When a chicken sees the color red, it looks like blood to chickens and it intensifies, bad and harmful pecking behavior and can lead to cannibalism. Eeeeew.
This whole topic got me thinking about what kind of glasses do we, people, need to wear to see each other differently. I mean, if they can create red colored glasses for chickens, what color would we need to see each other as “special” so we do not pick and peck at each other. Is it possible that we could simply put something over our eyes to alter the way we see each other?
Imagine if you will, driving down the road and buddy in the left lane veers over and cuts you off, instead of the yelling and name calling that usually goes along with that, you have on your special glasses and you can see that buddy is 15 minutes late for work, and has stepped on 5 pieces of his sons lego this morning, his foot is killing him and he is cranky. Instead, your heart reaches out and you simply say: God bless that guy, he has had a rough start.
Wow, what kind of glasses would those be?
Yesterday I saw a couple in the Thrift Store and they had no idea I was sitting behind the divider of the Prayer Room as they could not see me. They were arguing because they had no idea anyone was around, she says, “You know you always cut me off….”
He says, “No I don’t, you’re not listening.” He angerly asks her what she wants to look in the store and she shrugs and throws up her hands as if nothing matters now, she does not care.
I prayed for them, unbeknownst to them and saw them a half hour later, walking together, calm and acting like they were enjoying each other’s company.
Having God thoughts towards others is like putting on rose colored glasses. God is always thinking of people, even when people are not acting their best. God’s view is always the right one. Maybe when we encounter people not acting their best, we take a minute to ask God to show us how to love those people who are acting “unloveable”, ask God to bless them, after all God has had to put up with our cranky and not the best days too, it is the least we can do for others.