rare early 20th century antique american folk art single-sided storefront "come see" optometrist hanging trade sign (likely mounted against the facade above the entrance and/or large display window. the custom-built, one-of-a-kind folk art trade sign features a long and rectangular pine wood backboard with two oval-shaped openings containing the glass insets. the gilded finish wood spectacles with arched nose piece remains intact. the reverse-painted lenses are comprised of thick plate glass with reverse paint finish, consisting of black enameled background contrasting nicely against the bold goldleaf lettering. the optometrist trade sign dates to around 1910-15. the black smaltz finish is largely uniform. unidentified artist. the trade sign took many forms in early america. when education was a privilege and literacy rare, the ideal trade sign immediately caught the attention of a passerby and, because of its design, was totally self-explanatory. folk artists, sometimes including itinerant portrait painters, created signs that bore pictures that visually explained the name of the establishment or the services to be found within. these signs usually carried pictures or lettering on both sides and were hung from a tall post at right angles to the road, so as to be visible to travelers approaching from either direction. three-dimensional carved trade signs were often produced in the same workshops as figureheads and other ship decorations and usually displayed the same broad-planed carving style that typified american figureheads. the introduction of electric signs, which could advertise a business in the dark, led to the decline of the carved trade signs. measures 15 x 69 inches.