Old West Specs - Spectacle Emporium Eyeglasses / Sunglasses

Old West Specs -  Spectacle Emporium Eyeglasses / Sunglasses We create spectacles and sunglasses (especially for old-West re-enactors and other vintage enthusias We are closed Friday evenings and Saturdays for worship.

Open Sundays and most holidays by appointment: Our REGULAR hours are Mon-Thurs 10AM to at least 6PM, and Fridays 10AM to at least 4PM. Occasional special hours in the Spring and Fall. If you're coming from afar, please call to make sure we'll be here (we're glad to make special arrangements for after hours or most Sundays - and we're OFTEN here on Sunday afternoons.) For an after-hours appointment

, please call 745-3682 (office) or 721-8196 (home.) The area code is 307. The Spectacle Emporium, formerly known as Optical Fashions, has been making the world's finest eyeglasses and sunglasses since 1977. We specialize in fine FRAMES MADE IN THE USA and the FREE WORLD, from ANTIQUE to ULTRA-MODERN. Come visit the Last Old-Fashioned Optician, who spends an hour with each patient on average, designing the perfect pair of glasses to fit your personality, occupation, hobbies, and sports. Deal with a professional with over 45 years' experience instead of an amateur - and save thousands of dollars over a lifetime. When your vision is at stake, why risk it with an optical "sales clerk" with little or no experience?

*** VINTAGE EYEWEAR ***

Our vintage frames include styles from the American Revolutionary War, the Civil War, Victorian Era, Edwardian Era, Roaring 20's, 1930's, 1940's, the nifty fifties, sassy sixties, and those huge frames from the 70's & 80's. The Spectacle Emporium is a re-enactor's paradise!

*** ULTRA-MODERN EYEWEAR ***

If you like ultra-modern eyeglasses that stand out from the crowd, you need to see our fashion show. Just go to our main page and click the PHOTOS tab. Then click the "ALBUMS" tab to see ALL our photo albums. (or cut and paste the following link: http://www.facebook.com/media/albums/?id=126605314077804

*** CONTEMPORARY EYEWEAR ***

Do we have standard, everyday frame styles? Yes, we do. Since we are not located on Fifth Avenue or other such extravagant street, we can share our savings on rent with you - but our styles are second to none.

*** MORE NOTES ABOUT OUR HOURS ***

(EVENING, SUNDAY, AND HOLIDAY HOURS BY APPOINTMENT.) We are often open after the listed closing time. Please call for special closure days, especially in Spring and Fall. Occasional closures for special assignment or continuing education (to keep our skills and our certification up) may be required. We are closed Saturdays for worship. We are available Sundays, evenings, and most holidays by appointment, so if our schedule doesn't match yours, by all means call and we'll arrange a time that is good for both of us!

*** SPECIAL CLOSING DATES, Sept. and Oct. 2023 ***



*** PLEASE CALL AHEAD IF COMING FROM AFAR! ***

Especially if you're driving or flying from afar, please call us at (307) 745-3682 ahead of time. To keep up my training to give you the best service in the industry, I need to attend classes now and again. I don't want to miss you! I occasionally have to run to the post office or mailbox to send a rush job out, or I may not hear the phone because of the vacuum cleaner or lens edger, or we're shoveling our (considerable) winter snow. So please call back or leave a message if we don't answer the first time.

*** PARKING ***


There is diagonal street parking in front of the Spectacle Emporium. Parking is usually easiest in the morning and on Sundays (I'm here SOME Sundays, or by appointment after hours)... but if there are no spaces, don't panic! There is all-day parking on First Street about one block south and one block west of us (just north of the old Depot). There are also lots of free spaces behind Coal Creek Coffee on Grand Avenue (about a block West of us)... but watch the signs, as some spaces are reserved or not all-day! There is also a free lot on Custer Street (2 blocks south), just west of 2nd Street. Also, if you call us at (307) 745-3682 as you're heading north up our alley from Garfield Street, we can sometimes guide you into a space. Be sure to call -- please don't park in the wrong place and get towed. I can even help you park and help you get on your way after your visit.

*** REACHING OLD TOWN LARAMIE, WYOMING ***

Laramie is two hours north and west of Denver. You can take I-25 to Cheyenne, and then I-80 to Laramie. Or, if you'd like more scenery, jump off I-25 at Ft. Collins and follow U.S. 287 to Laramie (this is shorter but about the same amount of time, and will put you right on 3rd Street in Laramie, and we're just a block west of 3rd, just south of Grand Avenue.) We are conveniently located near the intersection of the I-80 business route (Grand Avenue) and US 287/30, and about 45 miles west of I-25. We are located on 2nd Street, just a block west of US 287 / 30, and 4 doors (not stores) south of Grand Avenue, which is the I-80 business route. We are about 2 minutes north of the I-80 third street exit (then turn left on Grand Avenue, then left at the next corner (2nd Street). We're the fourth door (not store) on your left.

*** HOUSE CALLS BY APPOINTMENT AS NEEDED ***

07/29/2026
07/27/2026

Another History Tidbit: Jack Slade had a huge influence in what happened in the West, but often forgotten is his wife, Maria Virginia Slade. No one knows what her last name was or what her life had been before Jack came along. What we do know is that they were married in Texas while he was driving freight wagons. She was his equal in many ways and had a personality as fiery as his.
This is a description of what she looked like by Nathaniel Langford: " Her figure was queenly and her movements the perfection of grace. Her face was lit up by a pair of burning black eyes and her hair, black as a raven's wing, fell in curls over her shoulders". He also said that she knew how to use the rifle and revolver and was at home as well in the saddle like the bold hunters that roamed the range. I think someone had a crush on Virginia! There is a picture of her in the Stage Station if you are curious to see what she looked like.

Here's a little more information on the "Salute to the Mountains and Plains" on September 12 at the Livermore Hall. You've probably see our "Save the Date" flyers around town. Cow Patty Bingo will take place at 2 PM. Apparently the first time it was played, the cow was let out of the trailer too soon and was unable to perform. Now it's let out at the last minute. I've played "Goose P**p Bingo" in Nunn, so this should be even more fun!

📝Written by Marcie Wells, VDCC Member
📷 Photo Credit: WikiTree: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Unknown-344173

Are most stores closed when you're free to shop?Well, weekdays you work... And Saturdays it's hard to park...Sundays you...
07/26/2026

Are most stores closed when you're free to shop?
Well, weekdays you work...
And Saturdays it's hard to park...
Sundays you're off, and the parking's a snap! Come visit us - we're usually open Sunday afternoons sometime after 1:30. I expect to be here until at least 6. See how you can save bundle on your eyecare budget, even without vision "insurance!" 307*745*3682

07/24/2026

“The law in Laramie didn’t arrive all at once—it was built piece by piece by men who decided they could no longer wait for it.”

In the years following the Civil War, around 1865, Boswell arrived in what would become Laramie, Wyoming, joining some of the earliest settlers in a region still shaped more by uncertainty than structure. Alongside his brother George and other families, he helped establish a foothold in an area where outlaws were drawn by opportunity and the absence of strong authority. Over time, Boswell became associated with efforts to impose order, eventually serving as the first sheriff of Albany County, while also participating in a local vigilance committee formed by settlers trying to stabilize the region.

Tension grew quickly between these early lawmen and figures like “Big” Steve Long and his associates, who operated businesses that allegedly relied on intimidation and violence to maintain control. Long, who would later become marshal of Laramie, was already known for deadly confrontations and escalating conflict with settlers. As fear and unrest spread through the community, incidents of violence became more frequent, and trust in formal legal processes weakened, pushing residents toward taking matters into their own hands.

The situation reached its breaking point in October 1868, after Long was wounded in a gunfight and suspicion spread through the town. Boswell and a group of armed citizens confronted Long and his associates, leading to their deaths in an extralegal ex*****on carried out without trial. No charges followed, and Boswell remained an influential figure in the region afterward, later serving in official positions as Wyoming’s institutions began to take shape. In the image of a man standing within that historical context, there is a sense of permanence rooted in a time when law itself was still being defined through conflict, and it leaves behind a question that lingers: when order is built through force before law exists to guide it, where does justice truly begin?

07/22/2026

Lookit all th' Laramie souvenir spectacles I have in store for ya, pards... and I can actually mount your eyeglass or sunglass prescription in 'em. Try gettin' YOUR eye clinic or big-box store to do THAT! Come see the ™. You can be your own grandparent at ™ in ™! 307*745*3682
https://www.Facebook.com/Spectacle.Emporium

Wow... visitors today from New Zealand, Bermuda, Bangladesh, and a fella living in Southern California, who came from so...
07/14/2026

Wow... visitors today from New Zealand, Bermuda, Bangladesh, and a fella living in Southern California, who came from somewhere south of the border! They're all searchin' fer th' wild, wild West!! 🚂 🐎.. And th' day's not even over yet...
307*745*3682

It's nice to be wanted!  🚂 🐎   The Jubilee Days  carnival is over, and it's super-easy to park out front (as with all Su...
07/12/2026

It's nice to be wanted! 🚂 🐎 The Jubilee Days carnival is over, and it's super-easy to park out front (as with all Sundays.) The Last Old-Fashioned Optician is here to give you the best glasses you've ever had, without the high price tag you're used to. Yes -- lower prices than with your insurance plan. Come and see! :) 307*745*3682
305 S. 2nd Street (just south of Grand Avenue)

Just a block north of our mercantile in Laramie!
07/10/2026

Just a block north of our mercantile in Laramie!

Our town's history shook the world!  Make it a day (or week) trip, to come visit the   for your vintage (or modern) spec...
07/10/2026

Our town's history shook the world! Make it a day (or week) trip, to come visit the for your vintage (or modern) spectacles! 307*745*3682

Address

305 S 2nd Street
Laramie, WY
82070

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 6pm
Tuesday 10am - 6pm
Wednesday 10am - 6pm
Thursday 10am - 6pm
Friday 10am - 4pm

Telephone

+13077453682

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Old West Specs - Spectacle Emporium Eyeglasses / Sunglasses posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share